Bold Destiny
by jazztransformsme
Summary: 2007 Movieverse/G1 inspired/Pairings - The autobots fight to save two young girls, unknowningly revealing a secret. Salvation and destiny are discovered.
1. Dead Can Dance

**Disclaimer**: _'Transformers' belongs to Hasbro, Paramount and various other companies – characters from the film or any related merchandise do not belong to me and I am making no money out of this fiction from the characters or plot. Any original characters and ideas do belong to me and require permission to use elsewhere._

**Rating**: T – This story has a little bit of everything so be forewarned.

**Author's Note: **You will find background information in my bio on this story. As always constructive criticism is welcome. R&R. Thanks.

* * *

**"Dead Can Dance"**

* * *

In the beginning of the end, the great planet created the last of all that he had…his last spark.

Optimus Prime followed the orders given to him by the voice within his mind. Down through a hidden doorway, into the deepest reaches of Cybertron he went, leaving Ironhide and Jazz in charge at an entrance, to stop any who dare follow.

He went through a series of elevators and large dark halls, ascending further and further, following the directions the voice gave him as navigated the massive labyrinth. "Hurry Prime, down this hall, turn let. We have very little time!" the deep voice spoke urgently.

Finally, at the end of one hall he reached a large square silver, gleaming smooth, door. In the center was a large key hole. Prime pulled out the cyber key he had been given long ago and slipped it into the lock before letting go and standing back.

The lock spun and clicked before the great door shuttered, as it slid open slowly, revealing a small well lit room. He stepped inside looking around; blinking multi colored lights of several control panels lined the parameter. A large table was in the center with various items on it. It looked as if someone had been interrupted while doing their work, leaving items out in disarray.

The voice spoke again, "Over on the far wall there is a capsule. Please go over there and open it."

Prime walked over to where he had been instructed to go and opened the small capsule. Inside sat a brilliant white glowing orb. He reached in and picked it up, holding it between his thumb and forefinger.

Carefully, Optimus Prime placed the fragile glowing orb into a protective box, which he had gathered from the table nearby. A glowing web of electricity reached out from the orb attaching to the sides of the box securely suspending it in the center.

The voice commanding Prime was losing his mental control and urged his loyal warrior to hurry. Optimus Prime worked quickly as explosions rattled and shook the room while alarms echoed through the halls.

He set the box, containing the orb, gently in a small space pod and typed the coordinates into it's on-board keypad before placing it into the launch tube. He pressed a large green button on the main computer he stood next too, which launched the precious cargo off towards an awaiting warp bridge.

Prime stood for a moment watching it, as it shot off, disappearing into the distance. He then reached down to open his chest plates revealing a small round silver portal. The planet commanded the computer before Prime and out reached a straight thin metal spear that locked into the hole within Primes chest cavity. It twisted slightly with a series of clicks before sending waves of electromagnetic pulses into his body. He shook for a moment as his memory of this moment was suppressed and encrypted, not only for his protection but for that of the others.

High above the planet, Megatron observed the great Planet. The carnage of metal and debris was vast and he laughed with pleasure at its sight. Victory and power would soon be his.

As Megatron sat, suspended in space watching all the destruction below, a twinkling in the distance caught his eye. He felt a strong presence of another spark but was unable to determine whether it was an Autobot or one of his own.

The object was approaching quickly, traveling at a high rate of speed. At the moment it passed, time briefly stood still, as power washed through him, more power than he had ever felt before. As suddenly as it had come it had past.

The objected left him stunned for a moment as he began to comprehend the importance of what he had just felt, he quickly realized what it was and who it had come from.

He shot off after it, towards the warp bridge. Driven by the desire for absolute power he blindly dove into the unknown.

* * *

In the cold of the Arctic Circle, in 1897, Archibald Witwicky slipped into a crevice, breaking through and falling deep into an underground ice cavern.

He stood up after a moment and brushed himself off. Looking around trying to get oriented to where he was, he noticed something incased within the frozen wall of the cave. A giant metal object of unknown origins peered back at him. He backed away startled and bumped into a small metal post sticking up from the snow covered floor.

He yelled up to his shipmates for help and to share with them his discovery.

As Archibald waited for help, something caught his eye; a small box imbedded in one of the ice spears that rose from the cavern floor. He reached out and wrestled it free from its icy perch.

It was small, fitting neatly into the palm of his hand. Strange hieroglyphics were carved into its metal surface. He carefully lifted it's lid revealing inside a silvery white orb suspended by sparkling white thread.

A roped suddenly landed with a thud next to him and the voices of his men alerted him to his impending rescue. Quickly closing it's lid, he placed the box in the inside pocket of his thick warm coat before going over to grab the rope.

* * *

James Walker pulled into the driveway of their home. As he droved up and toward the back of the house he glanced over at his neighbor's home, the Witwicky's.

There was Judy waving to him from her kitchen window. He gave her a wave back.

He looked over at Harley, just waking in the passenger seat. She brushed her straight shoulder length brown hair away from her face and sat up straight. "Ah, it feels good to be home." She sighed, exhausted from the long drive.

"Oh my god … Home Sweet Home!" Devon spoke, yawning and stretching in the back seat. Devon was Harley's fiery twin sister with a do now think later type of attitude. Harley was just the opposite, she was quiet, composed and always trying to think ahead of anything she was about to do or experience. She didn't like surprises.

They had been staying at a cabin on the coast of California, just north of San Francisco, for the past three weeks. James decided to take a last minute trip that neither girl had expected. They were reluctant to leave their home for many reasons. One being they hadn't actually left their home since the disappearance of their father, Charles Witwicky. They feared they'd received news from him and not be there to receive it.

Charles disappeared a year and half ago and had not been heard from since. James knew Charles through his father, John Walker. John and Charles were very good friends and worked together longer than James had been alive. Charles practically raised James when his father mysteriously disappeared when he was very young.

This last year and half had been very hard on all of them. He and the girls would not have made it through this difficult time without Judy's help. Judy was like a mother to the girls since their own mother had passed away during childbirth. She was a very important part in protecting and raising the girls.

James turned off the car, looking over to see Judy coming out her door towards them. She stopped just short of their fence with an arm load of mail.

"Hi Judy!" the girls yelled as they stepped out the car.

"Hi girls, I hope you had a nice trip." She yelled back. James could tell by Judy stopping short of coming over to their car, that she had something important to talk to him about, something she didn't want the girls to over hear.

"Girls, why don't you start unloading the car and I'll be there shortly to help you, I need to go talk with Judy for a moment." He said as he started walking over towards Judy.

Harley eyed him suspiciously. _'James is hiding something. I can feel it._' She thought to herself. This whole trip was odd in her opinion.

James came home three weeks ago from work, and while trying to look calm; he told them they were going on a trip. There was no asking or talking about it. It was just _"get your things we are living town."_

He was so frantic about it that it was obvious something was not right. She couldn't help but wondered if all the strange things going on in the news had anything to do with his un-settled behavior. _'Did he find out new information in regards to their Dad's disappearance? Was there a connection with his disappearance and the terrorist attack on Mission City?'_ her mind was becoming more and more obsessed with these thoughts. He wouldn't let them watch any television or news, so getting information about what was happening around town, difficult.

Harley and Devon knew their Dad worked for the government, but that's all they were told. Because of the limited information they were given, they weaved all sorts of crazy conspiracy theories in their heads about what their Dad did in his line of work.

While the girls unloaded the car, James walked through the gate separating their driveway from the Witwicky's.

Judy met James at the gate, as they both turned and walked halfway towards her back porch, before stopping to talk.

"How are things going? He asked. They both spoke in hushed voices.

"It's going ok for the most part," Judy paused for a moment, before continuing looking up at James with a worried look, "James, I'm afraid … the time has come to tell the girls."

James looked into Judy's eyes with sadness and fear. He was told by Charles, and his Grandfather, this day would come, but never really actually believed it. Now that it was here, the reality of the situation frightened him.

'_No. She's wrong'_, he thought denying it, but deep down he knew she was right.

"We are going to have to tell the girls everything." Judy reached out and grabbed onto James shoulders forcing him to focus on her. "They have to hear it from us before they find it out on their own. Either way this will be traumatizing to them, but it will be more so if they find out the truth on their own. We have to explain to them why we did what we did so they don't loose their trust in us."

James looked down at his feet trying to regain control of his emotions. Judy held on to him. "James they have arrived." Judy said softly.

"What do you mean," he mumbled not really wanting to know.

"Look…Sam has to know. You see he is now a part of all this. And it turns out that one of them is now his guardian." She spoke slowly, giving James time to absorb what she was telling him.

"What?" he said looking up at her, "You mean here at your house?"

"Yes, James," she could see James hadn't expected her to say that, but she continued, "His name is Bumblebee. It's has taken the form of Sam's car so don't be startled."

'_A car… Sam's car? It's like a bad science fiction movie or something'_, he thought to himself.

"No." James said again, in one last attempt to fend of reality. He was silent for a moment, as Judy stood in front of him patiently waiting.

He eventually found the ability to speak again, "I want to tell the girls first before we tell Sam. I want them to hear it from us alone."

Judy agreed, "I'll let you settle in and unpack. Why don't I come over tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yes," was all he could say, as he turned from Judy and headed towards his car to help the girls. He composed himself quickly before seeing them, once again putting on a brave face.

The twins had come out for the last of the bags just as Sam pulled up into his driveway heading towards the back of his house.

Devon let out an excited yelp, "Wow …sweet car, Sam! Looks like you've been upgraded to coolness!"

She conveniently became distracted from unpacking the rest of their things and ran over to where Sam was just getting out of a bright yellow sports car.

"Hey Devon, How's it going?" he said nervously, as he watched her walked around his car, admiring it from all angles.

Sam just hoped she wouldn't touch anything or worse, ask to go for a ride.

Harley, who had made her way over to see what all the commotion was about, rolled her eyes at Devon's behavior. "Watch out Sam, you're going to become Devon's best friend. She'll be driving you all over town to meet all the hot boys in your new car. Either that or she will be hitting you up to borrow your car outright … without you." she said sarcastically.

"Oh Harley ... please", but then turned to Sam, "but you never know … right Sam?" Sam shifted uneasily.

'_No way was she borrowing Bee',_ he thought. He wasn't brave enough to actually say that to Devon. She could run a little hot sometimes.

Devon responded to Harley, after seeing Sam's reluctance in agreeing with her, "You are so uptight, girl. This is one sexy car. Of course, I don't think you'd know sexy even if it came up and bit you in the backside." She wasn't about to let Harley get one up on her. She should know better than that.

James could hear the girls bickering, and came over at that sound of that last comment. He knew all too well that a full on argument was brewing. Not that they fought often, but when they did it wasn't pretty.

Sam moved over to stand next to James, as they met a fair distance out in front of Bumblebee, escaping the girls' increasingly growing irritation of one another.

They their escape was short lived. Devon came over to stand with them admiring the sporty looking Camaro from a distance.

"I've never seen a car like that, Sam. Where did you find it?" She asked curiously.

"Probably a car dealership", Harley snapped, fully annoyed. Devon shot an irritated glare back at her sister.

"Oh Harley your in denial", Devon said smoothly, fueling the fire, she knew was growing inside Harley, at this very moment, "Come on admit it. This car is getting you all hot and bothered. The wild woman in you wants to come out. Oh, but wait, you don't know what any of that means, do you?"

Harley was pissed now. How dare her sister say things like that in front of James and Sam.

She was embarrassed by Devon's comment but didn't want to show it. _'She doesn't have to announce my inexperience to the world! She promised. What a bitch!' _she thought angrily to herself_. _

"Is that so?" Harley spoke with growing rage. "Maybe Devon, it is you who really wants … no … desperately needs this car right now." Harley turned to face all three as she spoke.

"Maybe you are having withdrawals from a particularly long dry spell, if you know what I mean", she said raising her eyebrow slightly at Devon, as she slowly and seductively waltzed backwards till the backs of her bare legs met the warm metal bumper of Sam's car.

James raised his hand in an attempt to get Harley's attention, but was cut off.

"Imagine," she said, in as sexy voice as she could muster, "the pleasure you could get from this car. It's large engine rocking and rolling could mean easy satisfaction, without having to milk the lunch money from some poor boy, stupid enough to fall into your web."

Harley placed the back of her left heal on the bumper before using it to lift herself up and onto the hood of Bumblebee. She landed firmly on the metal service, as her short flowery skirt floated up and out behind her, like a billowing blanket being laid out over a bed. She reached down between her legs to grab the edge of the car hood for support.

Bee, caught off guard by this action, suddenly took notice. He wasn't sure whether to allow her to continue or not. Clearly, she would be embarrassed, if she knew who she had just rested her backside on. But before he could figure out a way to stop her it got worse.

Sam's mouth was wide open in awe as Bee received his own personal lap dance.

"Ooooh Devon", Harley moaned while slowly and seductively moving her hips back and forth. "Imagine the unlimited amounts of pleasure you could have. Imagine the se…..", she was suddenly cut off.

Bumblebee decided to take matters into his own hands and spare this girl, Harley, from any further embarrassment. He fired up his engine, giving a fierce rev before adding another for good measure. The vibrations rattled through his body and that of Harley's.

Jolted from where she sat, the startled Harley flew off the hood of Bumblebee, hitting the ground hard. The force of her landing sent her flying forward onto her hands and knees.

Bumblebees watched her fall, not realizing she'd startled that easily or jump that far. He watched to see if she had been injured. Having to transform around strangers, to apologize, might make this a more difficult situation.

James and Sam snapped out of their drooling glazed over trance, and ran to help her. Devon followed close behind laughing at Harley's stunt.

Sam thought fast, as Harley looked up staring daggers at him. "Uh, I … this darn remote start thing", Sam spoke as he pretended to push such a button on his keychain. "I'm still getting use to it. I'm really sorry Harley, Are you ok?" he stuttered, shooting an angry glance behind her, at his Bumblebee.

Harley stood up with a slight limp and brushed herself off. She was thoroughly embarrassed, realizing how stupid her behavior had just been. She was still pissed at Sam for doing that to her and let her look express that to him, as she turned and stormed off towards her house.

"Sorry James", Sam said apologetically.

"That's ok Sam. She'll get over it." James gave Sam a pat on the back, before turning to follow Harley.

"Nice one Sam." Devon gave Sam a wink, as she too turned to follow James and Harley.

Sam let out a sigh of relief, as James and the girls disappeared into their house. "That was some crazy shit, Bee. Are you ok?"

"I'm perfectly fine Sam. I just hope that Harley will be ok", he said with concern.

"Harley will be fine. Her sister has always been hard on her, but it's only because she cares so much. I've seen Devon knock a boy out to protect her sister." He shivered at the memory.

"Sam, we should be leaving soon Mikalea will be waiting. Hurry, and do whatever it is you need to do," Bee urged.

"Easy boy, I'll hurry." Sam took off inside to grab a few things for their evening out.

* * *

That evening around the dinner table, James sat lost in thoughts, while Devon and Harley observed him with concern and worry. They had called a truce, but emotions still remained tense, as they looked over at James.

After dinner Harley tried to keep busy and offered to do the dishes and clean up for James.

"Go relax. I'll take care of the dishes," she said, herding him into the living room.

Although, Devon put on a brave front she still suffered, like the others, on the inside. She didn't like to admit it, but she needed her sister more than ever. Her fear of loosing another person close to her prevented her from venturing out like she had done in the past. Harley had been right; she was going through a dry spell. She no longer went out late at night with friends.

Harley cleaned and dried the last of the dishes before reaching under the sink to grab the trash bag. After gathering up the garbage, she headed out the back door letting it slam shut behind her. Devon, who had gone upstairs to listen to music and texted some friends, jumped as the door shut with a loud bang. '_Why does she always do that'_, she thought annoyed.

Out the back door across the yard was a large two story, three car RV garage that backed up to the narrow alley way behind their house.

She made her way down the back steps of the porch, and along a dimly lit stone walkway, towards the large garbage can next to the far right garage door.

It was quiet except for the occasional dog parking in the distance or a car driving by on the street in front of their home.

Harley always loved the night air in the summer. It was warm and breezy with a half moon. She looked up noticing the stars where hidden by a few high clouds that glowed slightly from behind, as they crossed paths with the moon.

The moon provided little light for her to see as she lifted the lid on the large plastic garbage can.

Just as she flung the trash bag into the can, everything went black.

* * *

**Additional Note:** Next Chapter coming shortly.


	2. Into the Rabbit hole

**Disclaimer**: _'Transformers' belongs to Hasbro, Paramount and various other companies – characters from the film or any related merchandise do not belong to me and I am making no money out of this fiction from the characters or plot. Any original characters and ideas do belong to me and require permission to use elsewhere._

**Rating**: T – However, this chapter is mild.

"**Into the rabbit hole"**

Barricade stood silent and still up against the side of the garage, hidden in its shadows. His glowing red eyes scanned the home just beyond, looking for its human occupants. Using the infrared and x-ray scans that he recently received in an upgrade, Barricade located the three occupants, all in separate locations--one human in the upper level and two in the lower level of the house.

Starscream had told him to collect the two females from this house without bringing attention to him self or by creating a scene. It was imperative that this task be accomplished without raising the suspicions of any humans or the suspicions of the Autobots. Starscream needed time to find out what exactly he himself was looking for, and taking them quietly by surprise was the only way to accomplish this. He knew that he was on the verge of discovering something huge! Something that would allow him to be the ruler he had always wanted to be. Before Megatron's demise he had mentioned something about an object of pure power and he knew it was here on earth. He had felt that the Witwicky family knew of its whereabouts.

As the giant black and white Decepticon stood there, contemplating on how to go about fulfilling Starscream's request, the opportunity presented itself.

The slam of a door caught his attention, walking in his direction, was one of the female humans he was looking for.

'_Ones better than none'_, he thought to himself. At least he wasn't coming back empty handed. He felt that trying to get the other female would be too difficult without creating the type of damage that would alert the human authorities. He could take this female easily. It would be hours before anyone was aware she was missing, or at least he had hoped.

She approached a garbage can that was up against the garage wall and around the corner from where he stood. As she lifted its lid to throw in the sack that she was carrying, he reached around the corner and swiftly stunned her from behind, using a small probe he had been given for this particular purpose. He caught her before she could hit the ground.

Lifting the girls limp body he carefully backed away towards the alley and transformed around her, locking her securely within him. He preceded part way down the alley way before attempting to turn on his headlights. As he turned on his lights a car came around the corner, and turned up the alley towards him.

He stopped in his tracks, idling with the occasional revving of his engine. The other car stopped, as its bright headlights rested on Barricade. He suddenly realized it was an Autobot, but before he could react, the yellow Camaro spun its tires in reverse, sending rocks and dirt flying in all directions. Barricade spun his tires before he was able to get some traction in the gravel. He shot off after the bright yellow Autobot, giving chase.

Bumblebee sped backwards into the street before applying the breaks and cranking the wheel. He spun in a half circle, coming to a stop, rocking slightly from the force of the spin, and facing down the open road.

With a deafening screech of rubber meeting pavement and a plume of smoke surrounding his back tires, Bumblebee took off like a rocket down the road and away from Sam's house.

Letting the chase go on for a few miles, Barricade made a half hearted attempt in catching them, before purposely loosing them. He didn't have time for a chase and he needed to get back to Starscream and the others.

---

Sam and Bumblebee were nearly home when Bee's sensors picked up an enemy signal in the area.

"Sam, I detect a Decepticon nearby," he said, alerting Sam.

Bumblebee became very concerned since they were so close to Sam's home. He hoped that the enemy hadn't finally found the home of the Witwickys.

"I hope you're wrong," Sam said, trying to hide the fear in his voice. "Do you know who it could be? Starscream supposedly left the planet and everyone else was destroyed." At that moment Sam remembered, the one who had been unaccounted for.

"Barricade." he whispered under his breath.

Hearing his silent whisper, Bee spoke, "I'm afraid that would be the logical assumption."

They turned to go up the back alley towards Sam's house, thinking they could sneak up and surprise who ever it was. But once they entered the alleyway, Bee's headlights came to rest upon a black police car. Barricade switched on his headlights, and for a moment, it seemed that he was as surprised to see Bumblebee, as Bumblebee was to see him.

"We need to lure him away from here, Sam. I just hope it's not too late." Bee said frantically.

"Hang on!" Bee yelled, as he shifted in reverse, speeding backwards towards the road they had just come from.

Shooting out of the alley and into the street, Bee applied the breaks and turned his wheels so he could take off down the road away from town and Sam's home. Sam's vision blurred, as he desperately tried to brace himself during Bee's quick maneuvering. With screaming tires, Bumblebee took off with Barricade in hot pursuit.

However, to Sam and Bee's surprise the chase was short lived, and after several minutes Barricade disappeared.

"Sam, are you ok?" he asked.

"I'm fine, but what happened to Barricade? I thought for sure we would be in some serious trouble. He didn't seem in the mood to chase us." Sam responded, breathing heavily from the rush of adrenaline.

"I know it's strange. He has to be up to something. It makes me nervous that he was close to your home. I'll have to let Prime know about this right away," Bee said, as he turned around to take Sam home.

On the way home, Bumblebee opened up a com link to Prime.

"What is it Bumblebee, is everything all right?" Prime asked.

"Yes, everything is fine now, but a few moments ago we crossed paths with Barricade in the back alley behind Sam's house. I feel like he is up to something. I tried to distract him from the area with a chase but he disappeared after a few miles," Bee said concerned.

"Hmmm….That is strange behavior for Barricade, and I think you're right, he is up to something. I'll see if we can get a scan on where he might be hiding out." Prime was very worried. Although they destroyed Megatron, he knew Starscream was out there somewhere plotting his next move.

"Bee, there is something else I need to tell you. We've picked up a distant signal from an incoming ship. Ratchet believes it's from our own fleet. We could have back-up arriving within the next couple of days."

Same could sense Bee's excitement at this announcement. "That means there are more survivors," Bee said in anticipation.

"Yes, we just aren't sure what ship it is or who is on it. Bee, stay with Sam tonight, just in case Barricade comes back. We will scan the area around his house and stay on guard in case you need our help."

"Gotcha Prime. See you tomorrow." Bee said relieved and excited all at the same time.

Bumblebee pulled slowly up Sam's driveway, scanning the area before letting Sam out.

"Bee, I'm so exhausted. I'll see you tomorrow." he started towards his house but then paused and turned back to his guardian. "Bee…everything will be ok…right?"

"Don't worry Sam. I'll keep a look out for you. Now go get some rest. I'll alert you to any incoming trouble." Bee said, reassuringly.

"Ok. Night, dude." he said, turning back towards his house.

"Later, Sam." Bee shot back.

---

The repetitive drone of voices drifted from the television, as James lay asleep on the couch. The kitchen was silent. Upstairs, Devon sat with her head phones on and listening to music, while writing in her journal. She had started keeping a journal after her father went missing, as a means to release all her pent up anger and frustration. She was upset with how little help the government had offered in helping them find their father.

She looked over at the clock. It flashed 11pm. She was surprised Harley hadn't come up to hang out with her. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how quiet it had been. More quiet than usual. She decided to go down stairs to see what James and Harley were up to.

She walked down stairs into an empty kitchen. Walking over to the couch she noticed James asleep, but no sign of Harley.

"Harley?" she spoke in a slightly hushed voice, being careful not to wake James. Devon went to the back office and down the hall to the other rooms, peering in to see if she could see her sister.

'_Maybe she's in her room?'_ she thought, and turned to go back up stairs. She bounded up the stairs and walked down the hall towards Harley's room. She slowly pushed the door open. "Harley?" she whispered.

Harley's bed was still made up with no signs that anyone had sat on it. She laughed slightly at how particular Harley was about making her bed covers smooth and wrinkle free. _'OCD'_ popped into her mind, as she thought of Harley. Not that she really had _'OCD'_--it was just Harley's way of dealing with uncertainty and the loss of her father.

She went to check her father's room last. James had been using the guest room downstairs out of respect for Charles. He believed Charles would be back someday and didn't feel right sleeping in his room. It had been left untouched for the last year and half. Harley had gone in and straightened up a few things but that was about it.

Upon seeing the final room empty Devon's heart jumped and began to beat wildly with growing panic. She became nervous. _'No, not Harley!_' the thought echoed in her mind, as she started to run back down the hall to the stairs.

"This can't be happening!" she spoke breathlessly out loud.

As she reached the top of the stairs she could no longer control herself and screamed, "James, I can't find Harley!" Stumbling down the stairs, trying to hold her self up against the wall, she cried out again, "James wake up. She's gone! No God! Please God!" James caught her at the bottom of the stairs, as her frantic eyes wide with fear met his.

"Calm down, what are you talking about?" He said, trying to get her attention by turning her to face him.

"I just went through the house and I can't find her anywhere! The last time I saw her was when she was doing dishes after dinner!" Devon said, now trembling with fear.

James looked at her, as he too realized the last time he saw her was just after dinner. He knew Harley would not just leave without telling someone, she was too careful. The full impact of the situation hit him, as he realized she truly was missing.

"Wait," he said, trying to remain calm and failing miserably, "Maybe she went to visit with Judy?"

"Not this late at night!" Devon said. "We need to call the police!"

"Devon, before we do that, let me check with Judy. She could have gone over there. I know Harley is a creature of habit, but maybe she decided after being gone so long, that she needed to see someone else besides one of us." He said trying to convince himself that it was a possibility, but he knew otherwise.

He didn't want to get the police involved, because of the whole secretive situation with their father's disappearance.

James grabbed Devon's hand and pulled her out the backdoor and towards Judy's house. He wasn't about to leave her alone and lose her too. _'I should have known better. I let my guard down, dammit!'_ he chided himself, as they ran across the parking lot toward their neighbors backdoor.

Bumblebee recognized the two humans, as Sam's neighbors. He scanned them quickly and could see they were in a state of panic, their vitals were extremely high; something was wrong. While sending a scan around the area he listened and observed the two humans.

Pounding on Judy's door, James yelled, "Judy… Judy! Open up!" It didn't take long for her to reach the door, since she had been on the couch reading a book and drinking some wine, her typical late night ritual.

She opened the door to see Devon in tears and the panic ridden face of James. "Judy, Harley is missing." He said, out of breath. "She has probably been missing for several hours now."

"What's going on mom?" Sam said from behind his mom. Due to his earlier run-in with Barricade he was having trouble sleeping. The sudden pounding on the door made him jump, and he thought it might be Bee alerting them to danger.

"Sam, your cousin Harley has turned up missing. You didn't see her earlier tonight when you came home did you?" Judy asked, careful not to mention Bumblebee's name, since James and her hadn't been able to talk with the girls yet. She didn't want Sam knowing she had told James about his Autobot friend.

"No I didn't. Are you sure she isn't anywhere nearby?" he offered weakly.

"I've looked everywhere," Devon said tearfully from around the corner, her crying reaching a fevered pitch again, as she leaned up against the back wall of the house.

They all stood there, panicked and speechless; fore each had reached a crossroads with the secrets they held. Judy and James looked at each other, not sure how to proceed. Sam eyed his mom and James suspiciously, while Devon was oblivious to what was to come.

"What's going on Mom?" Sam asked suspiciously. "James… is there something you're not telling us?" He said, as he stepped in closer behind his mom.

James wished that he and Judy were alone at this moment, but realized this wasn't going to happen. Devon, who was able to gain control of her emotions, had now turned to look at him and Judy at the sound of Sam's concerned voice.

"Sam," Judy said, without turning to look at him, "I think we will need your guardian's help in this matter." Sam froze. He couldn't believe she just asked that. The Autobots were supposed to be a secret, so why was she asking him this question now?

"Mom?" he questioned her.

"Sam, there's something I haven't told you." Judy turned to face him, gently pulling him back towards the kitchen table.

Sam's heart was racing. "You and James aren't having an affair are you?" he blurted out frantically.

"No," she said with a forced whisper, "Of course not. It is nothing like that."

James had followed Judy and Sam into the kitchen while he caringly guided Devon to the kitchen table with them; he rested his hands on her shoulders as she sat down. Devon could feel the emotions from those around her and sensed something was very wrong.

"Sam, look I know about your friend out there." James cut Judy off from saying anything else. He didn't want her saying more than necessary. Letting her know this, he gave Judy a glance, which she acknowledged silently back.

"Look, I'm not ready to share all that I know at this point, but I can tell you that your friends need to get involved." He paused not sure how to continue. "Look I have known about the alien robots for some time. I just didn't know which of them to trust. That was until Judy let me know about your guardian."

Devon spoke up. "Why are you talking crazy?" She asked. Her cheeks glisten, still wet with tears. "Have you lost your mind James?" she said exasperated.

"Devon, we will talk later. I promise you. But you just have to trust me right now." James said, gently squeezing her shoulders.

"James, my friends will to want to know what they are getting into and who they are dealing with. You just can't expect them to help you out of the blue like this." Sam said.

"Sam honey, remember when Archibald found those strange artifacts in the Arctic Circle?" Judy asked. She felt some information needed to be heard in order to convince Sam.

"Yeh, he turned that all over to …," he hesitated with a glance at James, "…that special government research agency." Sam was careful to avoid using the name of Sector 7.

"Well, you see, he didn't turn everything over to that agency." She said with apologetic eyes. "There was one thing he had kept and …well… later it had caused a problem."

"What do you mean mom? What kind of problem?" Sam said, wishing she'd just get to the point.

"I can't share anything else, but I can assure you, the Autobots will have an interest in what we are trying to protect." She said.

"Harley needs to be brought home, Sam, and once she's safe we can tell you more." James said firmly, irritated with having to be so careful with what the information they shared.

"Wait." Sam said suddenly. In all the confusion with Harley missing he had almost forgotten his earlier run in with Barricade. There had to be a connection.

Sam didn't hold back this time. "Mom, Bee and I ran into a Decepticon earlier tonight… out in the alley behind our house. Do you think he may have taken Harley?"

Everyone in the room froze with the exception of Devon, who looked around confused at all the new terms she was hearing. The fear she saw on their faces at that moment made her stomach churn.

"What's a Decepticon?" James asked.

"They are the bad guys. The bad robots… I mean." Sam said looking over at James, noticing the fear and confusion in Devon's face.

Sam stood up from the table and ran out the door towards Bee, followed by the others seconds later. "Bee, I'm sorry to do this too you, but we need your help." Sam said breathlessly. The yellow Camaro sat quiet and unmoving.

Judy spoke up. "Bee, James knows about you. Both he and I have known of your species existence, for some time now. I'm sorry for not being completely honest with you about that." She felt awful for having to lie to all the Autobots and felt bad for not sharing her secret with Sam.

Sam stepped back, as Bee quickly transformed with a blur of yellow and the sound of scraping and clicking metal parts.

James stepped back in awe, as he looked up at the giant robot. This was the defining moment of all that had happened in his life, including these last few weeks. Now he fully believed in the importance of all the sacrifices he and Judy had been making for the twins and their father.

Bumblebee, who had been listening in on the entire conversation didn't need much convincing. He was curious himself, and he to could see a possible connection between Harley's disappearances their encounter with Barricade.

Before anyone could speak, Bumblebee spoke first, "I agree that Barricade may have had something to do with Harley's disappearance. We will need to let Prime know… and…" he bent down closer to James, "…he will want to know everything you have to share." James stepped back with uneasiness, as Bumblebee came close to his face with his shining blue optics.

"Um…Bumblebee…" James thought it odd that a giant robot had the name of Bumblebee. "I can't tell you everything till I've first had a chance to privately tell Harley and Devon together. I owe them that much." James said firmly. He knew that Devon's mind would probably go crazy with the thought that he had a secret he wasn't sharing. He just hoped that she would be patient enough to wait till they found Harley.

"Fine…but you will have to convince Prime to help you with out sharing your secret. I'll need you and Devon to come with Sam and me," he said.

James, who had his arms around Devon, realized she hadn't said a word. He turned to face her, but stopped short of saying anything. She appeared to be in complete shock. Her eyes were wide with fear and her mouth was slightly open, as silent tears were rolling down her cheeks.

Bee looked over at her before bending down while talking to her soothingly, "Devon, please don't be afraid. I won't hurt you." He reached out with his hand stopping just short of touching her. Her eyes, still wide with fright, remained locked onto his blue optics while her hands remained at her side. Bee had hope this gesture would calm her but could see she was too afraid to reach out to him, and knew he wouldn't have enough time to coax her to do so. They had to hurry and get to Prime, and the others, if they were to help Harley. The Decepticons were ruthless and he feared they may do more than just harm her. He shuddered at the thought.

Bumblebee pulled back his hand and stood up before transforming back into a yellow Camaro. He opened his door so James and Sam could climb in.

Sam ran around to the driver's seat, while James and Judy helped Devon into the back. Once Devon was settled, James jumped in the passenger seat. "Judy, I'll be in touch," He said reaching out as they grasped hands for a moment.

"Take care of them Bee," Judy said, as she watched them pull out of the driveway and down the street to meet up with the rest of the Autobots.

---

They sped down the street, heading towards the outskirts of town, while Sam briefed James on the Autobots situation.

"They have this base set up in an abandoned warehouse just outside of town. The government agency I mentioned earlier purchased it and then gave the Autobots the tools to setup shop…so to speak." He said.

"You mean it's like their headquarters?" James asked.

"Yeah, they have another base being built for them but it will be some time before its ready. Until then this government agency wanted the Autobots to stay nearby in case of any emergencies." Sam glanced in the review mirror at his cousin; he could tell she was having a hard time absorbing all he was saying.

Bee knew it too and opened up a private com link to base, while Sam explained things to James. Ironhide was the first to answer. "What's going on Bee?" He asked.

"We have a kidnapping situation. It seems that Barricade may have taken one of Sam's cousins, who had been living in the house next door." He said, but was cut off by Ironhide before he could continue.

"Sam has cousins….next door?" he said surprised. He wondered why Sam or any members of his family hadn't mentioned that before.

"Yes, Ironhide. They are twins….females, one who could possibly be in Decepticon hands. It's a long story that Sam and James can explain once we arrive at base." Bee knew Ironhide would be concerned about him bringing an unidentified person to base.

"Wait Bee, You know the rules, no unidentified humans are allowed here. We can't risk revealing our location to anyone," Ironhide said firmly. "Can we meet you somewhere?"

"No it's too late, I'm on my way. There appears to be some more information, although Judy and the James fellow were unwilling to share the full scope of their secret with Sam and me." There was a brief moment of silence on the other end of the com link before Ironhide responded again.

"Very well, I'll notify Prime that you are on your way." He said with apprehension in his voice.

"Hide, there's one more thing. I'm bringing in the other twin and she seems to be in some sort of mental shock. Have Ratchet find something that might help calm her?" he asked.

"I'll let Prime and Ratchet know," He said with a sigh. He just hoped Bee had made the right choice in trusting this human, James.

The drive to the Autobot base had only taken a half an hour but seemed like an eternity to James. They approached what looked like a large, rundown, and gated compounded of abandon warehouses. But James realized that it was all a façade once inside. The chain link gate opened on its own to allow Bee access as they drove down a bumpy dirt road towards the main warehouse. As they neared the entrance to this warehouse, its massive doors opened inward revealing a large well lit, and surprisingly, clean room, the size of a large airport hangar. At the far end beyond this room was an entrance to another room similar in size. Off to one side was a bank of large computers, radars and monitors, as well as other equipment he wasn't familiar with. Next to one of those computers, stood a very tall, dark grey and very menacing looking robot. He turned, meeting James mystified stare, as Bee entered the room.

Bee opened his doors, allowing his occupants out before transforming. Thunderous steps announced the entrance Ratchet and Optimus Prime, as Bee stood next to the humans.

"Ironhide, Ratchet, Prime…," Bee said looking at his fellow Autobots, while motioning to the two new humans below, "This is James and the girl next to him is Devon."

Before Prime could bend down to introduce him self, Ratchet stepped in closer to their guests to get a better look at the female. He scanned her vitals which showed she was physically stressed but only slightly. Unfortunately, he lacked the tools to determine her mental condition, but he could see by the look on her face that it wasn't good.

"James, it is nice to meet you. May I take Devon back to the med bay? I have something that might help her," He asked.

James looked at Devon, whose hold on him tightened after hearing the request of the giant robot before her. "Devon, you will be ok. He can help. I promise nothing will happen to you." But she didn't release her hold.

Prime spoke as he bent down close to James and Devon, "I'm Optimus Prime and this here, is our chief medical officer, Ratchet." He motioned to Ratchet. "There is much to explain about who we are and where we come from but for now all you need to know is that we are Autobots, and that means we are the good guys. We are here to help you and Devon." His sky blue optics rested upon Devon even though he spoke to James as well.

She stood locked into his gaze. "Devon, everything will be ok. We will find your sister and bring her home safely, but first you must take care of yourself. Don't be fooled by his size, Ratchet is very gentle. He can help you." She was so mesmerized by his deep soothing voice, that she didn't hear the snort that Ironhide emitted in response to Prime's comment about Ratchet being gentle.

She looked up at James with worry as he encouraged her to go with Ratchet. Ratchet could see her grip loosing around James and put his hand down for her. She slowly moved towards Ratchets hand before carefully climbing in and settling down. She finally found the courage to speak although very quietly, "If he has the magic mushroom that will get me out of this rabbit hole, then I'm all for it."

James smiled at Devon. _'She still has her spunk. That's a good sign.'_

Sam laughed nervously at Devon's comment, not sure whether she had finally gone insane or not.

Ratchet stood and carried Devon into the far room, leaving Sam and James alone with Ironhide, Bee and Prime.

Before Prime had time to question him James spoke, "As I told Bee earlier, there is some information that I can't share right now. Not till Harley is brought back. But I can tell you that her father, Charles Witwicky disappeared a year and half ago. I don't know if there is a connection or not." He looked up at the giant blue and red robot, hoping that he'd respect his wishes.

"I won't ask you then James, but I hope that at a later time you can share more. We will do what we can to find out if and where Barricade may have taken Harley. We have means now, to do wide area scans of the surrounding regions and monitor for any enemy signals. It's newer equipment so hopefully it will be accurate." Prime couldn't shake the feelings deep within his mind at the mention of Charles Witwicky. For a brief moment he felt that he had been on earth before, but that feeling was short lived.

The conversation between mech and human was suddenly interrupted with the shrill sound of an alarm going off. Ironhide ran over to one of the radars, examining the blip on its screen before typing on the oversized console below it.

"Prime, it's another ship!" Ironhide pushed a few more buttons before turning back to his fellow Autobots, "This new ship isn't ours."

"Keep a trace on them. We need to find out where they land." Prime said as he walked over and stood next to Ironhide looking at the screen.

Bee turned to James, "Well it looks like we could be one step closer to finding out where Harley may be."

"I hope so." James silently prayed they were right.

---

**Author's Note: **You will find background information in my bio on this story. As always constructive criticism is welcome. R&R. Thanks


	3. Spark

**Disclaimer**: _'Transformers' belongs to Hasbro, Paramount and various other companies – characters from the film or any related merchandise do not belong to me and I am making no money out of this fiction from the characters or plot. Any original characters and ideas do belong to me and require permission to use elsewhere._

**Rated T: **_Violence _

* * *

"**Spark"**

* * *

Cool mountain air filled his lungs while a chilled wind played with his long brown tangled locks. He reached up, scratching his weather beaten cheek through the thick coarse hair of his beard before reaching down to pick up another log. Placing the log upright, he gripped the handle of the ax and with little effort raised it over his head before bringing it down with a mighty swing – splitting the log in two. This was the daily ritualof Charles Witwicky since escaping to his mountain hide-a-way.

His cabin was buried deep amongst the shelter of the giant fir trees that blanketed the mountainous region of the Cascade Range. The view was nothing short of spectacular when he found a rocky perch that he could use to peek out past the cover of the forest. Miles upon miles of forest spread out like a blanket of green beneath him. Still - hidden in this endless wilderness - he did not feel safe. His thoughts were of his two daughters, who had been so carefully guarded by Judy and James. Every step of their lives crafted to hide and protect them.

A year and a half ago that plan was threatened with footage captured from the Mars Rover. There was talk amongst his colleagues that alerted him to the impending alien arrival. He knew eventually all roads would lead to him and once they found him they'd find what they had sought. So he ran. He disappeared without telling anyone, including his daughters, Judy, and James. Anyone who knew of his plans would be a target.

He raised the ax again, splitting the log a second time. The crack of his ax hitting the log echoed through the forest. He reached down, picking up the split wood and tossing them into a small pile he had created.

Suddenly, in the distance he heard a familiar rumble. It faded almost as fast as it had come, before quickly returning with a thunderous roar. He looked to the sky trying to judge the distance and direction of the jet. From his years in the Air Force Charles had learned how to tell a fighter jet from other jets. A fighter jet had a way of sneaking up on a person before rattling their soul with an earth shaking rumble of its engines. He paused to listen, he heard the after burners kick on again and this time it was much louder.

Charles scrambled for his M16 that he had leaning up against a tree just a few feet away. Once there he turned, slamming his back up against its trunk, taking shelter under its branches, and holding the rifle ready.

Like the crack of thunder the silence was shattered by an F22 raptor flying low overhead. The tops of the trees swayed from the powerful force of a draft left in its wake.

He pressed harder against the tree, trying to remain as still as possible. But he was no match against the jets spotting capabilities and it banked hard once it crossed over the clearing. On its return, it hovered above the trees for a moment, and then with the scraping of steel and winding gears the F22 transformed before landing hard on his feet in the clearing where Charles hid. Charles knew it was futile to try and run.

The massive blue robot turned, scanning the parameter of where he landed, not stopping till he discovered the human hidden against the tree.

Charles watched as its red eyes found him. Bending down slightly, the robot approached him while a weapon appeared out of subspace in its arm. The robot then raised it – leveling it to take aim at his human prey.

Charles feared this day might come, his thoughts wondered to those of his daughters, and he realized he would never see them again. His hiding was his last attempt to protect them with the hopes of seeing them again but he failed.

"Do not move human and I will spare your life," threatened menacing blue robot.

But Charles knew capture would mean death, and not just to him. He reached slowly down to a small pistol he had hidden in the pocket of his jacket and pulled it out.

The robot's weapon whirred to life at the movement the human made. Charles refused to stop and raised the gun to his head placing it against his temple. He closed his eyes tight as he pulled back the hammer, bringing a bullet into the chamber.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Thundercracker didn't give his human captive time to think about it. Distracting the human with his words, Thundercracker fired his weapon in an attempt to knock the small gun free from the human's hands.

A light shot towards Charles, who pulled the trigger as the laser hit the gun, knocking it out of his hands. Although Charles had been quick, he wasn't quick enough and the bullet grazed his forehead, leaving a bloody gash.

The force of the laser from the alien robot and the shock of the bullet piercing his forehead brought him to his knees. Charles felt the robots hand roughly grab him from above and lifting him off the ground.

"That was a very stupid move human. You should know better than to disobey a Decepticon," Thundercracker hissed.

The rumble of another jet filled Charles ears. He tried to look around to get a visual on the other jet but blood obscured his vision. Skywarp approached Thundercracker's location; hovering, he opened his cockpit as Thundercracker carelessly tossed Charles into the seat

"Sit properly human so I can secure you for the flight," grumbled Skywarp.

Charles struggled to right himself but not to sit still. The jet's cockpit hatch was still open. Taking advantage of this, Charles pushed with his legs trying to lift himself out. But the jet could feel what his was trying to do and tilted quickly in the opposite direction. Charles flipped back hitting his head on the edge of the cockpit before falling limp into the seat.

"Finally, these humans can be so stubborn!" Skywarp closed his hatch and secured the human in place the best he could.

"You're loosing your touch Skywarp," Thundercracker teased, as he transformed and flew off towards their hidden base. Skywarp followed, hot on Thundercrackers tail.

---

Harley's senses began to slowly return. She moved her arm but pain shot though it and up to her shoulder. Her face was pressed against a cold, hard stone floor. Cautiously, she lifted her head, opening her eyes while she struggled to move, before realizing her entire body ached. Her vision was cloudy but she was still able to see. The place was strange and unfamiliar. Carefully, she pushed herself up into a seated position and glanced around the barren grey room. It looked like she was in a prison cell for giants. There was, what appeared to be, a large seat attached to the back wall of the cell that she could only assume was a bench for a giant. It was up far too high for her to climb on. Her muscles screamed in protest as she brought herself to a standing position. Who ever had put her in this cell knew they'd have to block the lower half of the bars with additional wire to prevent her from walking between them.

'_Where am I?"_ she wondered. She felt calm, but only because she couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was like she was in a dream. Nothing looked familiar and nothing made sense. The last thing she could remember was taking out the trash, so how she ended up here was a mystery.

She pinched her arm and blinked her eyes. "Wake up!" she whispered to herself.

A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Calm was quickly replaced with fear; the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She felt exposed and there was no blanket within reach to hide under.

She turned her head in the direction of the movement and was met with a red glowing visor of a giant dark blue robot standing against a large computer at the far end of the room. "Wake up!" She yelled louder to herself, her eyes locked onto the robot that stood staring at her.

"I am awake." the robot said in a monochromatic and mechanical tone.

Her heart beat violently against her chest. She tried to scream but nothing came out.

The massive blue robot brought its arm up as a small object popped up out of it. "Starscream, the human is online. Would you like me to get her ready?" he asked.

A screechy voice came across the radio, "No. Skywarp is bringing in another human. We will leave them together first before trying to extract any information."

Starscream opened up a private com link to Soundwave, so Harley couldn't hear their conversation. "After Skywarp brings in the other human I want you to leave the room. I would like to observe them first to see what sort of information we can get. Then we will move on to other methods," Starscream said calmly.

"Affirmative." Soundwave turned back to the computer and waited for Skywarp.

It didn't take long for Skywarp to arrive, carrying his limp human cargo. Soundwave looked down at Charles, who lay motionless and bloody in Skywarp's hand.

"Starscream said not to harm the humans. We need them to be alive and working in order to retrieve the data," he said accusingly.

"He is alive, Soundwave. He's just a little damaged. Don't worry you will still be able to get the information you need," Skywarp shot back defensively.

Soundwave did a quick scan of the human and found that his vitals still showed he was alive. "Starscream wants you to put him in the cell with the femme for now. We will proceed as planned at a later time."

"No problem, besides I'm tired of dealing with this disgusting, messy human." Skywarp walked over to the cell and pulled the door open. He decided against tossing the human into the cell fearing he might damage him further. He wasn't in the mood to deal with an angry Starscream more than he would have to already, so he lowered his hand close to the floor before dumping him out of his palm.

Harley stood hovering against the back wall, trying to make her self as small as possible while Skywarp dumped the human on the floor. He only briefly glanced at the frightened girl in the back before standing up to his full height and walking away, slamming the iron cell door behind him.

The room was quiet once the two robots left. Harley sat there for a while, shivering from fear and cold. She still had her skirt on, and a light sweater, but not much else that would protect her from the chill in the air.

The human on the floor appeared to be a man. She wasn't sure if he was dead or not, but he looked to be in bad shape. She could see blood pooling out around his head. The sight made her stomach churn. She slowly stood and stepped closer to get a better look at the man who lay with his back to her. Walking around him at a distance she came to his front. There was something familiar about him but it was hard to tell who he was under all that blood. He had a beard and long hair. She didn't know anyone like that. But still something was tugging at her mind. She came closer bending down till she was close enough to touch his face.

The recognition hit her like a ton of bricks and she came down hard on her knees. "Dad!" she screamed tears spilling down her cheeks as she reached out to grab him.

"Dad!" she screamed again and she felt around his chest for any signs of life. She grabbed his wrist and felt for a pulse. It was faint but she was able to get a pulse through his warm skin.

"Dad, wake up. Please!" she begged pushing him over on to his back and gently shaking him. He moaned in pain.

Harley quickly took off her sweater and started to wipe away the blood around his eyes. It was at that moment that she noticed his wound and the severity of it. She cried harder while she worked to stop the bleeding.

"Dad, are you ok? Please say something. Please." She sobbed uncontrollably. Her body shook with the force of her sadness.

Charles heard his daughter's cries and forced his eyes open. Harley looked down at him with wet cheeks as he spoke to her, "Don't say anything. They are watching us." He found it hard to talk as he faded in and out of dizzying consciousness.

"Harley, listen to me. Don't say anything else……no names….or they will go after them too." His mind swirled.

"Dad what are you talking about? What's going on?" she was desperate for answers and wanted so desperately for this nightmare to end.

"Harley, I love you. I want you to know that no matter what happens I love you. I did everything for you and the other you," he said. He wanted so badly to say he loved Devon too, but knew he couldn't say it.

Harley knew what he meant and she kept quiet. She was confused but she listened to Charles. Just from his appearance she knew she was in danger.

"Don't speak anymore," She whispered, moving closer to her father and laying down next to him. She held onto him tightly while she closed her eyes, listening to his erratic breathing, and praying that someone would help them.

---

A loud clang of steel bars jarred her from her restless sleep. Heavy footsteps shook the ground beneath her; she turned and looked up at the faceless giant blue robot she had seen before. He reached down and grabbed her father from her arms.

"No! Please leave him alone!" she screamed, frantically grabbing at his arms as he was lifted out of her reach. "Please don't hurt him. Please!"

But her pleas fell on deaf ears; the robot turned and walked off, closing the heavy cell door behind him.

Harley watched them depart, leaving her alone. Her heavy breathing and sobs echoed throughout the room. "No..." she whisper weakly, sitting down heavily on the floor in defeat.

---

Charles held tight to the hand that held him. He closed his eyes in an attempt to block the pain of seeing Harley so desperately trying to hold on to him - the agonizing vision forever seared into his thoughts.

He heard the swoosh of a door and a few moments later felt his body hit cold hard metal as he was dropped onto a large table. He lay back on the table, weak from his injuries, and opened his eyes.

"Skywarp, I thought I told you to bring the human back in working condition!" said a red and blue robot standing on the opposite side of the table, his red optics glaring down at Charles. The robot had a whiny voice that grated on his every nerve. Its eyes exuded evil intent.

"He isn't damaged. Soundwave checked him out. His systems are still working properly," responded Skywarp in a tone of retaliation.

"Soundwave, are you going to be able to get the information we need then?" asked the red and blue robot.

"Yes." Spoke the dark blue, masked robot that Charles now knew as Soundwave. He was trying to identify the names with the robots, just in case he survived.

"Fine, let's get on with this." Charles heard the red and blue robot say.

Charles closed his eyes once again while he lay there, his heart pounding, not sure what to expect._ 'Why didn't they try and question me?'_ He thought to himself. They made no attempt to even ask who he was nor did they explain why they wanted him. _'Maybe they don't know what they are looking for.' _

Suddenly, Charles was distracted from his thoughts by two giant fingers applying pressure on each side of his head. His eyes shot back open as he inhaled sharply. Staring down at him, and closer than he felt comfortable with, was the red visor of Soundwave.

"Hold still." Soundwave said in his mechanical voice.

Without warning a pain shot through his head, forcing him to reach up and grab at the giant fingers that held his head still.

Skywarp saw Charles struggle and reached down, grabbing his arms and pinning them close to his body, holding him still.

Charles moaned in agony and he now realized why they hadn't questioned him. They had other more effective means – reading his mind. He tried desperately to fight the mental invasion but the harder he fought the more severe the pain became.

"The more you fight, human, the more pain you will feel." Soundwave stated with irritation.

"You-can't-have-it." Charles sputtered out while struggling to control his thoughts. A battle of minds ensued but Soundwave was too strong and he snapped Charles's will like a twig. The images flowed freely through Charles mind and he was forced to watch his life move quickly in reverse. Suddenly the images stopped, pausing for a moment at a particular time in his life, before resuming in a normal forward motion. The scene played out including all he felt at that moment, as if he was re-living that day all over again.

**---Forced Flashback---**

The room was quiet except for the repetitive ticking of the clock on the night stand next to the bed. Clothes were strewn about the floor in a pattern that indicated its occupants had left in a hurry.

Charles had just arrived back from the hospital. He stood at the foot of his bed, looking around the room in a daze, his face wrought with pain and loss. It had been five days since his wife, Sarah, had died giving birth to their daughter and the thought of her being gone forever still had not sunk in. He felt so detached, like he was outside his body looking in on someone else.

He looked over towards the bed where he had placed his baby girl. There she lay, peacefully sleeping, unaware of her loss. He thought of Sarah and the moments before they had left this room. Her contractions where closer and more painful, yet still she was excited for the impending birth. He knew she couldn't wait to hold her baby in her arms. How sad it was to know she'd never get that chance - that they would never get that chance together.

Prying his eyes away from his daughter, he focused on the pictures that were scattered about the room. Quickly, as if spurred on by a burst of energy, he moved around the room, gathering up all the pictures off the walls and dresser. He set them all down in a pile on the floor. Then he went about gathering the towel on the floor in the bathroom and Sarah's robe off the bed, laying them on top of the photos, but still this did not help ease the loss he felt.

He turned slowly, glancing around. Across from the foot of his bed was a single closet door. It was the coat closet where they stored not only coats but other miscellaneous items, including boxes full of photos.

He walked over to the door and opened it. He reached up and pulled the string that was attached to the light above, turning it on. He could see the shoes boxes up on the shelf above. Carefully he reached up for one of the shoe boxes but as he slid it off the shelf a smaller box, that he had not seen, slid forward. He quickly leveled the shoe box to prevent the smaller box from flying off and hitting him in the head, before continuing to gingerly lift them down together – one balance precariously on the other.

He remembered the strange box. It was made of some sort of unusual material with odd symbols carved into it.. It was from his grandfather, Archibald. Charles's father had given it to him as a reminder of his grandfather and all the amazing things he had done before going insane. As he recalled there was a smaller box inside this larger one.

Balancing the two boxes, he turned to head out of the closet. Just as he stepped outside, his back foot caught on a shoe causing him to tip forward, sending the top box flying. It hit the floor with a loud shatter, sending its contents sliding and clattering along the wood floor next to the bed. A white oval shaped ball that had been encased in a smaller glass box within the larger box, rolled several inches before coming to rest next to the bed.

Charles struggled to regain his balance before gently bending down and setting the shoe box of photos on the floor. Standing up slowly, he walked around the side of the bed to get a better look at the shattered boxes and its contents. There were several items that looked like silver disks. His eyes, however, were drawn to the white ball. As he moved in closer to inspect it, he noticed it seemed to be glowing. And not just glowing but pulsating, getting brighter and brighter – till it was a brilliant glowing ball light.

He glanced over at his daughter who lay quietly on the bed, judging his distance to his daughter verses the ball of light. He started towards his daughter but instead found he was unable to move. It felt like he was incased in cement, unable to even move his fingers. His heart raced and he started to panic from being confined by this unknown force. He was so caught up in his struggling to get free he didn't notice that the glowing ball now hovered a foot above his bed. For a moment he stopped his struggles and looked on in horror, fearful of what it was going to do next.

Slowly the floating ball of light drifted over toward the sleeping baby, not stopping till it was directly above her. Charles yelled but found his voice was silenced.

Pulsating stronger, the glowing ball omitted a blue beam of light that looked similar to a light from a scan gun. It seemed to be scanning his daughter. From her head to her toe the beam of blue light moved - over her body - before abruptly disappearing.

Charles held his breath unsure of what was to follow. Then without warning his eyes were filled with a blinding light that cut off all vision of everything around him. There were no sounds just silence, as the light flashed and then vanished. The room was once again quiet except for the ticking clock.

Unexpectedly release from his invisible prison, Charles stumbled, falling forwarded onto the floor. Breathing heavily, he lifted himself back up using the side of the bed for support. As he peered above the edge of the bed his daughter came into view. She was peacefully sleeping like nothing had happened. He stood up further and stumbled over to her but stopped paralyzed in disbelief. His mouth hung open in shock.

There on the bed cooing and wiggling contently was another baby identical to his daughter. Her big blue eyes looked up at him innocently. He reached down and gently covered the new baby with a blanket while he touched his own daughter to see if she was breathing and without injury. She seemed unfazed by all that happened and blissfully slept. Suddenly there was a slam of a door downstairs and a woman yelling for him. "Charles, are you here?" the woman yelled.

**---End Flashback---**

Charles fought to bring himself back to reality with a painful snap. He couldn't let Soundwave find out anymore. He had to fight to the end. Struggling against Skywarps hand he forced his thoughts to Sarah and their life together before her pregnancy. The pain wracked his brain. But thoughts of his wife seemed to bring him renewed strength and power.

His vision once again began to fade from reality and white light engulfed his mind. Within seconds his pain faded and he stood in front of Sarah. She was more beautiful than he remembered and all the sadness he felt from her loss was replaced with love – pure love.

Sarah reached out with her hand, "Charles, come with me."

Charles needed very little convincing and reached out to touch his true love's hand, embracing her delicate fingers as they intertwined with his. She gently pulled him close, embracing him, his being, and his existence.

"What's going on?" Starscream yelled impatiently.

"The human has shutdown." Soundwave said nervously.

"Well, did you get what you needed?" Starscream questioned.

"Yes, it is one of the females; unfortunately I was not able to determine which one." He said trying to hide his nervousness he felt in having to break the news to Starscream.

"There was a box and it contained data discs. They might also contain information we need," he said calmly. Soundwave hated Starscream and was frustrated that he had to obey him like this. The first chance he had he was getting Megatron back.

Starscream turned to Soundwave, "Well, we better hope Barricade chose the right one or else he will have more than me to deal with."

Their conversation was interrupted by a com link initiated by Thundercracker, "Starscream, we've picked up another Autobot ship in the outer atmosphere of earth. Would you like me to go check it out?"

"No. I need you here. We can't afford to separate the group." Starscream shot back only slightly concerned. He was sure the Autobots wouldn't be able to find their location. However, if he sent someone out it could possibly compromise their location. Instead he decided to proceed as planned.

"Soundwave, Ready the female." he snapped before he turned and left the room.

* * *

**Authors Notes: **Sorry this chapter is short. I had hoped to add more but didn't want to take part of the next chapter and add it to this one. Thanks for all the positive reviews. R & R. Thanks. 


	4. Sound Discovery

**Disclaimer**: _'Transformers' belongs to Hasbro, Paramount and various other companies – characters from the film or any related merchandise do not belong to me and I am making no money out of this fiction from the characters or plot. Any original characters and ideas do belong to me and require permission to use elsewhere._

**Rated T**

**Warning: **mild Sexual overtone

**Authors Note**: Whew. I feel like I've run a marathon once I've published a chapter. I'm so slow at proofing and re-writing. As always I love feedback on anything in regards to my stories. Thanks for reading.

* * *

"**Sound Discovery"**

* * *

Devon sat warily on one of the several oversized tables that Ratchet had fashioned out of old scrap metal from a nearby warehouse. She glanced around at the array of medical and computer equipment he had scattered about before resting her head in her hands with an exhausted sigh.

With Sector 7 still functioning, they did what they could to make sure the Autobots were given the necessary amenities, including medical equipment and electronics, to assist them in their search for the Decepticons and the future protection of earth.

"Here," Ratchet said, moving his hand over to Devon. Small pincers extended out from the tip of his finger presenting her with a very tiny pill. "It's valium – courtesy of our human government friends."

Devon still had not been informed on Sector 7 so for now Ratchet referred to them as the "government". He figured it would avoid confusion and further upset of his human guest.

Devon eyed Ratchet quizzically. "Why would our government give you guys' valium?" Her question came out more forcefully than she had intended and she hoped that Ratchet had not been offended.

Ratchet didn't seem to notice. "Well, they gave it to us for this very reason; running into humans like your self who get a little overwhelmed when they see us."

He still had his hand extended towards Devon waiting for her to take the pill. He waved his hand slightly to get her attention. Devon noticed his impatience and reached out taking the pill from the pincers which quickly disappeared back in the robots finger.

Ratchet handed her a small bottle of water that he carefully held between two fingers. "Here, something to wash that down with."

"Ratchet," Devon looked up at his blue optics as she accepted the water, "What's going on? Why are you here?"

"Devon, right now why don't you get some rest? It's late and you've been through a lot of trauma these last few hours. There will be plenty of time for explanations later." He watched to make sure Devon took the pill and was relieved when she did. He didn't want to resort to forcefully making her rest.

He turned around and walked over to a couch that was pushed up against the far wall. He plucked a large blanket off it, along with a small pillow, and brought them over to Devon, setting them down next to her.

Devon looked up at Ratchet, "Thank you." She was calmed by his gentle voice and caring actions. Getting as comfortable as she could on the hard metal table; she pulled the blanket around her and lay down.

Instead of falling asleep she watched Ratchet move about the room doing whatever it was he was doing. It was his movements that brought her eyes to rest upon the dark form of another robot lying motionless on a metal table not far to from her own.

"Ratchet?" she asked getting his attention.

Ratchet had been looking at the monitors next to the robot but stopped and turned when he heard her. "Yes."

"Who is that?" she said, pointing to the robot. "Is he ok?" She asked. She felt beyond tired but still couldn't bring her self to close her eyes.

"That's Jazz. He was injured in battle and, yes, he's going to be fine. He should be back to his normal self by tomorrow morning." Ratchet decided against giving her the real story so he could avoid further questioning. He turned back to the monitors to continue his work.

Jazz was doing better after Prime gave him the last shard of the Allspark. It had been a long two weeks with a lot of work and patience. Jazz had been improving quite quickly and had come out of stasis lock a few days ago. Currently, he lay in re-charge at Ratchet's request.

"That's an interesting name for an Autobot. How did he get that name?" she asked.

Ratchet sighed in a way that only a robot could. "_So_ _much for trying to avoid more questioning_," He thought to him self.

"I'm not exactly sure." Ratchet stopped his work once again and turned his head towards Devon, "Please Devon, you really should try and sleep. You are going to need it," he said sternly. He did another scan of her exhausted form to make sure there weren't any other problems that might be preventing her from entered her re-charge mode.

'_Do these humans not know what's good for them?'_ He thought shaking his head in frustration.

Devon was thrown off by his stern request. "Sorry Ratchet. I'll try." She said. She fluffed her pillow in an attempt to make the metal table feel more comfortable before settling down once again. She watched Ratchet silently before sleep finally over took her.

Prime stood next to Ironhide observing the descent of their ship into the outer atmosphere around earth. They still had not been able to make radio contact for unknown reasons but Bee worked feverishly at sending out signals in hope that one would get through to the ship above.

Ratchet came out of the med bay and walked over to James who sat exhausted on one of the many couches that Sam and Mikalea had brought in to make the large warehouse feel cozier and a little less empty.

"How are you doing?" Ratchet asked James. He kneeled down in front of the human and did a quick scan to make sure his vitals were well.

"I'm fine Ratchet. I'm just worried that we won't get to Harley in time. If anything ever happened to her I'd never forgive myself," he said, running his hands through his tousled brown hair.

"We will find her. Try to not worry too much." Ratchet tried his best to calm the human's fears but knew that finding Harley would be the only true way to put him at ease.

Ratchet stood back up and walked over next to Prime who stood watching a green blip on the screen indicating the incoming ship.

"What's the status on our current situation?" he asked through private com link with Prime, Ironhide and Bee.

"We were able to follow the Decepticon ship into earth's airspace. It landed in this region here," said Prime, pointing to a spot just west of the Rockies in the northwest region of Colorado. "We were able to get a lock on the location."

"Do you think that's where Harley is?" Ratchet asked.

"We believe so. Of course, we can't be sure. Barricade had taken her but we don't know who he is working with and why. We can only assume that Starscream has something to do with this." Prime responded.

Ironhide chimed in with his opinion, "Yeh, I can't imagine Barricade thinkin' up somethin' like this all on his own."

"Your right, Ironhide and, eventually, we will have to get James to tell us more about the two females and why a Decepticon would want anything to do with them." Prime added.

Suddenly a voice blared out over the com link. "Prowl to Bee, is that you?"

Bee jumped with excitement, "Bee here, I thought I'd never get through to you! Prime, Ironhide, Ratchet and Jazz are here too. What's your status?"

"We are fine. No one is hurt and the ship is in working condition. We are going to send a shuttle down. What's your location?" Excitement and relief spilled through the com link with Prowl's response.

"Sending a signal now, Prowl, stand by," Bee said cheerfully.

* * *

Harley sat quietly in her oversized cell. The cold air made her shiver, causing little bumps to rise up all over her exposed arms. The chill kept her from sleeping – not that she could sleep. Every sound, near and far, made her jump. She found herself focusing on those sounds, hoping that they would give her a sign that indicated her father still lived.

'_Why_ _were these things after us?' _She thought to her self._ 'And how were they able to find my father when the government could not?_'

So many thoughts were running through her mind that she didn't notice the return of the dark blue robot. Instead, it was the entrance of a large red robot that jarred her from her thoughts. He came stomping noisily in and over to her cell. His red eyes regarded her with cold indifference before he spoke.

"What is your name, human?" he demanded in a raspy voice.

Her heart pounded wildly in her chest but despite the fear she chose to remain silent. The robot waited for moment, glaring at her. His un-wavering gaze frightened her but she fought to appear strong.

"Very well, it will be your own loss." An evil grin spread across his face. "Soundwave, she's all yours," he said with his optics locked on Harley's fearful gaze.

Suddenly, she wasn't so sure keeping quiet had been such a good idea. Fear gripped her as Soundwave came over to the cell and unlocked the door, swinging it open wide. Starscream moved aside to allow Soundwave some room to maneuver and reach in to grab the girl.

"Where is my father!" she yelled. Soundwave stopped short, his hand suspended in front of her; he turned and glanced at Starscream before turning back to Harley.

Starscream thought this might be to his advantage. "He's in another room. If you answer my questions you can see him," he said, folding his arms across his cockpit waiting for her answer.

Harley wasn't stupid and knew they may have done more harm to him than she cared to admit. Knowing these machines could not be trusted she, once again, gave up and mentally scolded herself for speaking in the first place.

"You're a foolish fleshbag and a stupid one at that. You will soon wish you had chosen to speak to me rather than deal with Soundwave." Starscream motioned towards Soundwave with a flick of his hand to continue before turning and walking back towards the table in the center of the room.

Soundwave roughly scooped Harley up with his hand. His tight grip made it hard for her to catch her breath and she struggled in an attempt to get him to loosen up. He carried her over to the huge metal table where Starscream stood coldly observing the human girl, his optics following her every move while she was set, more gently this time, on the table.

"Lie back human and hold still," Soundwave instructed her in his mechanical voice.

She looked up at the large robots and contemplated whether she should run for it; and if she did would she even have a chance. At that moment another robot, similar to the evil red one who hovered over her, entered the room – crushing any hope she may have had for escape.

Thundercracker regarded Starscream with a glance and walked over to the other side of the table to stand across from him.

"Ah Thundercracker, it's so nice of you to join us. You've arrived just in time. The human is refusing to cooperate so a good torturing is in order," he said gesturing with his hand to Harley.

Harley looked between the three enormous robots looming over her. Her life flashed before her eyes as she realized for the first time that death was a very strong possibility.

Thundercracker leaned in close to the Harley. "Lie back human," he demanded calmly.

His closeness paralyzed her. She wanted to move but couldn't. Thundercracker grew impatient and roughly pushing her back, smacking her head hard on the metal table. He held her securely in place, pinning her arms to her sides, with his large hand.

Soundwave moved to the head of the table and leaned over to get a better view of her face. Harley looked up to see his red visor focused on her from above. He brought one hand up to the table and held Harley's head firmly between his thumb and forefinger, repeating the actions that he had done early to her father.

Harley's breathing became rampant. She felt the light pressure of his touch forcing terror to seep into her soul while her head spun from not being able to catch a full breath.

"Relax." Soundwave's pathetic attempt to calm her failed miserably.

Suddenly, she felt him invading her mind, starting out as a dull throb before turning into a sharp piercing pain.

Unable to bare it any longer, a scream escaped her lips - a long agonizing scream. She sobbed uncontrollably while she desperately tried to breathe.

Thundercracker held Harley firmly but shuffled uneasily before receiving a questioning glance from Starscream. He pushed his feeling of sympathy, which had surfaced in his subconscious for just a moment, back down into the depths of his spark. The girl screamed again pushing his audio receptors to their breaking points.

Starscream and Thundercracker both glanced toward Soundwave for relief, all the while trying to figure out what was taking him so long to quiet her.

Harley's mind began to spin and an odd sensation began to reverberate through her body. As the sensation increased, the pain in her head decreased, until all that she felt was a soft pulsing wave moving through her. Breathing became easier and she inhaled deeply trying to calm her nerves but with each breath the vibrations she felt became stronger.

They spread to every inch of her body, which to her surprise and horror had the side effect of pleasure, pleasure like she had never felt before. Though she was inexperienced, she knew what that feeling was as it built up from deep down inside. Her heart quickened and a cold sweat broke out on her brow. She couldn't understand how it was happening and tried desperately to stop the pleasure by thinking of other things. However, the invisible force causing the vibrations became stronger and her body responded whether she wanted it to or not. This time a moan of agonizing pleasure escaped her lips.

'_Oh god, please no. Not here. Not now._' The feelings of embarrassment and humiliation ran though her thoughts and she prayed that the robots did not know what was happening.

She could no longer think and closed her eyes to the outside world. Quick pulses rippled through her body in rolling forceful waves – one after the other – before feeling the climatic break in pleasure wash over her as she screamed out. At the same time the room shook and a thunderous crash of steel on steel filled her ears- and then silence.

* * *

Soundwave stood over the human while Thundercracker held her securely in place with his hand. He glanced over at Starscream who was preoccupied with threatening the girl.

Staring down at the human, Soundwave could see her tension. He had been researching the organics in hopes of finding an easier way to access their minds and control their bodies. He discovered that low level vibrations sent at a more intense rate could literally incapacitate their muscles. He decided that he would test his new discovery on the female. He could quite possibly find a way to control the humans, and this could prove to be a valuable tool in his secret desire to take down Starscream.

He reached down and gently pinched the humans head. However, before beginning the probe of her mind he sent a wave of vibrations through her body. He started out low so he would be able to determine at which point their muscles weakened.

At first it didn't seem to be working and she screamed out in pain. But as he increased the vibrations intensity she sighed and noticeably relaxed. Now that she was relaxed he would be able to enter her mind without resistance. But instead of reading her thoughts, he was met with blackness; she was stronger than he had originally thought. He increased the vibrations, battling her mentally, till her mind opened allowing him to work his way in.

Soundwave could feel her fear as it reached his processors and to his surprise a new feeling weaved its way in spreading down the length of his body. It was something he had never felt before – a new feeling completely foreign to him. His processors worked quickly to try and decipher what he was experiencing. It felt like he had consumed too much Energon, a sort of drunken happy feeling washed over him. Soundwave couldn't remember the last time he felt this good or even this – happy.

After several minutes of searching his internal memory banks he was able to find a name for what he was feeling – pleasure. This pleasure started moving through his entire body while in the distance he heard the girl scream; she sounded so far away even though she was right below him. Another wave of pleasure more intense than the last moved through him. He tried to stop it but when he found that he couldn't he begin to panic. It was like the pleasure had taken on a life of its own.

He could feel another wave of pleasure approaching but unlike the others this one was explosive, rocking his very spark. For a brief moment nothing mattered anymore and with a great gushing sound he violently pulled in air through his intakes before feeling the world fall away. With his systems spiking he feared something horrible had happened. To prevent further damage he forced himself offline.

* * *

The only sound Harley could hear was her heavy quick breaths. She slowly and hesitantly opened her eyes, afraid of what she might find. Starring down at her, in stunned silence, was the evil glowing red optics of Starscream and Thundercracker.

Bending over her, Starscream slammed his fist on the table causing it to shake violently. "What have you done fleshbag!" he screamed. She covered her ears in an effort to quell the angry volume of his voice.

"I…I don't know," she said softly. She lied but she just couldn't bring her self to say what really happened. If they didn't know then she would have to go into details and explain further. Oh, the horror of having to do that!

"You lie fleshbag! Tell me what you did to Soundwave or I will force it out of you," he growled, quickly bring his face close to hers.

Harley lay there confused. '_What had she done to Soundwave_?'

She hadn't realized she had done anything to anyone other than to herself. Looking up she now noticed that the giant blue robot they called Soundwave, the one who been had pinching her head, was no longer there.

"What did I do to Soundwave?" she questioned nervously.

"Look behind you and you tell me," demanded Starscream with anger dripping off his every word while pointing behind her.

She propped herself up on her elbows before turning over slightly on her side and looking in the direction the red robot had indicated.

Her mouth dropped open in amazement. Sprawled out on the floor far below and directly behind her, was Soundwave. His red visor was now a dull grey and it looked as if he fell straight back like a tower instead of downward. Oddly, his face carried an expression of peacefulness.

Harley could not believe she had done that. She turned slowly back, coming face to face with the red robot. She shuddered under his angry glare.

Disgusted, Starscream stood up to his full height.

"Thundercracker, put the human back in her cell and notify me when Soundwave comes back online. We'll have to wait and find out what sort of information he gathered before proceeding any further." Starscream spat angrily at Thundercracker.

Before leaving the room Starscream addressed Harley. "Your lucky fleshbag, your life will be spared for another day. But I assure you, if you do not cooperate next time, I will squash you into oblivion!"

She swallowed hard at his threat while holding her breath, only releasing it once he had left the room.

Thundercracker reached down and picked Harley gently up off the table. He carried her to her cell and set her on the floor, but before leaving he spoke.

"I don't know what you did but I have to say that was quite impressive, knocking Soundwave out like that." He smiled. "I do believe Starscream is jealous."

Harley couldn't speak. Relieved that she was still alive she didn't want to take any chances of changing that.

The tall blue robot stood up to his full height before turning and leaving the cell. He swung shut the heavy cell door and walked over to a chair in front of the large computer console. Gazing down at Soundwave curiously, he sat down to wait for his fellow mech to come back online.

Harley watched from her cell. She stood quietly examining the giant robots body and how it seemed to resemble that of a military fighter jet. She couldn't say what kind since her knowledge on the armed forces was very limited.

While taking another long deep breath, something caught her attention. Her hair fluttered gently as a soft breeze blew past her. Moments later, a feathery light touch began to encircle her, lightly caressing her arms. She froze while her eyes darted back and forth. She was afraid to move for fear of turning around and finding something large and scary behind her.

Without warning the light touch turned in to a light pressure and then ever so quietly she heard something in her ear. Her chest rose quickly with each panicked breath while she strained to hear what sounded like a man whispering to her. Slowly it increased in volume but still sounded very far off in the distance.

"Be still. I'm here to help you," whispered the voice. "Trust me and you will live."

Harley felt the pressure increase around her. Without warning a loud explosion shook the room causing Harley to let out a startled yelp. She heard gun fire and yelling in the hallway outside. Thundercracker stood quickly while a gun rose out of the subspace in his arm whirring to life. He started for the door but just as he reached it another explosion ripped it wide open. Debris flew all around making little clattering noises as pieces of metal pelted the walls behind her. As the smoke cleared a black and white robot followed by a large black robot, came rushing through the door.

"Mirage, where are y'!" yelled the black and white robot.

Harley was so distracted by what had been happening she hadn't realized that she was now floating in the air being suspended by some invisible force. She glanced around frantically and began to struggle but her arms were held securely at her sides. She whimpered weakly feeling defeated and exhausted.

"Easy Harley, everything is going to be ok." She looked in the direction of the voice. The thought of how he knew her name was lost as the large pale blue and white robot rippled into view out of thin air.

"I'm Mirage. Don't be afraid," he said quickly before turning to the black and white robot. "Jazz, let's go!"

"I'll cover you two!" Ironhide yelled while glancing out the door to make sure the coast was clear, but just as Ironhide had done that a barrage of fire blasted past and down the hall. He pulled back quickly and raising his arm he yelled into his radio.

"Ironhide to Prime, we are blocked in. Can you clear the way?" Ironhide turned to Jazz and motioned for him to the other side of the doorway. Mirage held May close to his chest while he pulled his gun from behind his shoulder and ready it for battle.

"No problem Hide," Prime responded across Ironhides com link.

Another barrage of gun fire and explosions ripped down the hall as the three giant robots took cover. Harley wished at this moment that her hands were free so she could cover her face but Mirage had her held tight and pressed now up against his chest plates. She struggled again but he was so focused on what was happening with the fight that he didn't respond. She wished more than anything to be somewhere else at that very moment.

"Now!" yelled Jazz. The three robots jumped out into the hallway just as a yellow robot thundered past. Mirage followed in line behind it at a high rate of speed. She couldn't see anything in front of her except for the gleaming glow of the yellow robot that stood out in stark contrast to the darkness surrounding it. The smell of sulfur and burnt rubber filled her nose. She closed her eyes as her ears where filled with a thundering of metal on metal and explosions. Voices rang out around her yelling commands on where to run.

Prime followed up from behind along with Ironhide.

"You'll never win you pathetic Autobots!" Starscream knew he had lost his hostage but also knew he'd get her back – one way or another. He fired mercilessly on Prime.

Prime stopped and turned to face Starscream while pulling out his ax which he swung deftly down and across the cockpit of his trailing enemy. Starscream clasped his hands to his chest in pain and dropped to the floor. Prime turned and ran after Ironhide. There main objective wasn't to destroy but to get the girl out and back to safety. A battle to the death would have to be left for another day.

Prowl opened the bay door to the awaiting shuttle when he saw the team emerge from the battered Decepticon ship. Sunstreaker led the way, followed by Mirage with his human cargo, Jazz, Ironhide, and Prime brought up the rear who fended off the pursuing Decepticons. Once the Autobots boarded, Prowl launched the shuttle, quickly lifting off taking his passengers to safety.

Mirage sat down once inside and relaxed his grip on Harley. "Are you ok Harley?" he asked, carefully checking her over for any obvious signs of injury.

"Who are you?" She looked up and around at the large robots surrounding her.

Prime spoke first. "Harley, I'm Optimus Prime and this here is Jazz, Ironhide, Sunstreaker and Mirage," he said pointing to each of his fellow Autobots as he named them. "We were sent by James to help save you. It seems you have been thrown into the middle of our battle and for some reason the Decepticons, those are the ones that held you captive, want something from you."

"What could they possibly want from me?" Harley looked at Prime in confusion.

Prime sighed, "We aren't sure yet. But we'll find out soon enough. In the meantime we will get you back to base and have our medic check you out. Are you injured anywhere?"

"No, I'm fine, just a little sore." She wasn't about to tell them the extent of her experience. She glanced up at the robot they called Mirage. He looked down at her with an odd expression.

Her stomach jumped. '_Did he know?_'

Mirage felt her tense up in his hand. He wondered why she hadn't told Prime what she had just gone through. She had to have been hurt with the way she was moaning and screaming under Soundwaves grip. Anyone who had the unfortunate experience of one of Soundwave's tortures usually came out damaged both mentally and physically.

"Prime, Harley isn't telling you everything." Mirage felt it necessary to share what had happened even if it meant making the human feel worse. "Soundwave tried to probe her mind."

"Harley, is this true?" Prime asked, his blue optics meeting her horror filled eyes.

Harley leaned back nervously. "Yes." Her throat felt dry as she croaked out her response.

"You do not have to be afraid of telling us anything. You can trust us," Prime spoke in a soothing deep voice.

Harley just shook her head in acknowledgement. She was on the verge of a tearful breakdown and feared that saying anymore would trigger a rush of uncontrollable sobs.

"Prime, something else happened." Mirage looked down at Harley.

His gaze caused her stomach to turn. _'Oh god, please don't say it,_' she frantically thought.

"She somehow knocked Soundwave offline. I've never seen anyone or any mech doing that before." Mirage said to Prime.

Prime was quiet for a moment before speaking to Harley. "Do you know what happened?"

"No, I don't," she said weakly shaking her head.

Prowl interrupted the conversation and announced that they'd be landing in 2 minutes.

"Harley if you remember anything that might be helpful to us. Please do not be afraid to share it." Prime said gently.

Harley nodded before lying back against Mirage's chest. For the first time in two days Harley felt safe, she sighed deeply feeling exhaustion in every inch of her body.

Mirage reached over with his other hand touching her arm gently. The gesture relaxed her further and she closed her eyes, falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

**Additional Note**: As you can see I couldn't help but bring in my favorite Autobots. Since G1 is what I grew up with and know best; I guess no matter what version I write I will eventually include them.


	5. Retrieve and Run

Ratchet did a surface scan of Harley checking for any open wounds or damage to her exterior

**Disclaimer**: _'Transformers' belongs to Hasbro, Paramount and various other companies – characters from the film or any related merchandise do not belong to me and I am making no money out of this fiction from the characters or plot. Any original characters and ideas do belong to me and require permission to use elsewhere._

**Rated T**

**Author's note: **Finally getting this out. As always I really appreciate reviews so don't be shy. I'm always open to constructive criticism. Catch an error? Let me know. Not sure what to think? Still let me know. Thanks for reading.

* * *

"**Retrieve and Run"**

* * *

Mirage came bursting through the door of the med bay carrying Harley in the crook of his arm, followed by Jazz, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.

A few seconds later, Bumblebee strode in with Sam and James running in behind him.

"Easy there, slow down!" Ratchet yelled. "You all can't be hurt that bad." He cleared a spot on the center table so Mirage could set Harley down. Mirage laid her down gently next to Devon who scooted over to her sister.

Bumblebee lifted Sam and James up on to the same table next to Devon. Earlier, Ratchet had convinced Devon to stay in the med bay with him under the guise of helping him organize his smaller medical equipment. He had been concerned over her health and this offered a less conspicuous way of monitoring her till they were able to find her sister.

James walked over and stood near Devon while she gently stroked Harley's arm. James feared for Harley's current state of well being and kept a nervous distance. Ratchet bent over low to get a closer look at Harley. Sam came up behind James and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Sunstreaker stood nearby waiting for Ratchet to examine his injuries but when Ratchet continued to examine the female without so much as a sideways glance, Sunstreaker became irritated.

"I've got several deep scratches along my chest plates and one on my left arm," complained Sunstreaker loudly while nursing his wounded arm.

"Not now Sunny. The human comes first," snapped Ratchet, giving the giant yellow mech a slight shove.

"Since when did humans take precedence over Autobots?" growled Sunstreaker. He shot an angry glance at Ratchet while he rubbed his steel plating.

"Shove a tail pipe in it, Sunny," said Jazz. "It's just a scratch nothin' life threatenin'."

"Listen to Jazz, Sunny," said Sideswipe, "The doc bot will fix you up in good time. We all have some sort of damage but you don't hear us complaining, do you?" Sideswipe went over and forcibly pushed Sunstreaker down on one of the open tables.

Jazz sat on the only other open table while Mirage stood anxiously next to Ratchet. Mirage wanted to tell Ratchet about what he had witnessed but held off till Ratchet did his initial scans of the human. They all watched the medic work on Harley, patiently waiting for the diagnosis. Everyone that is, except Sunstreaker, who too busy rubbing one of the deeper scratches.

Ratchet did a surface scan of Harley, checking for any open wounds or damage to her exterior. There were several minor abrasions and areas of bruising but other than that her exterior seemed well intact, considering her run-in with the Decepticons.

Ratchet completed an internal scan of her body only to discover that she appeared to be in a mild state of arousal. He kept quiet on his findings. He wasn't sure if this was a normal human state after experiencing severe trauma. He began to access his databanks on information gathered from earth's internet regarding human females to search for an explanation.

Mirage watched Ratchet intently and could see that Ratchet had found something he couldn't explain. Mirage knew what had happened to Harley even though she wouldn't admit it while on the ship. His team had been accessing earth's internet for sometime to gather information on earth and its species, right down to their physical design and how they worked. Humans, they found, were very complicated.

Mirage noticed a change in Ratchet's expression and opened a private com link.

"Ratchet," Mirage said trying to get the medic's attention. Ratchet briefly glanced at Mirage and gave him a nod of acknowledgment.

Mirage continued, "Harley was subjected to one of Soundwaves mental tortures. And well, a strange thing happened." He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "It seems that Soundwave induced…"

Mirage went on to explain how Soundwave had sent energy pulses through Harley's body and the reaction it created, including the end result which forced Soundwave to take himself offline in a panic.

Ratchet was speechless. The thought of what Soundwave had done disgusted him but didn't surprise him; the Decepticons knew nothing of respecting other species. However, Ratchet had wished he had been there to see Soundwave panic as his own lack of knowledge brought him down. Poor Harley, she had no idea what she had done. She wouldn't. She knew nothing of Soundwaves abilities.

Ratchet responded after a short pause, "Got a taste of his own medicine…I see."

Ratchet's thoughts quickly turned somber as he wondered what sort of affect Soundwave's mishap would have on Harley. She may not understand that not all mechs were capable of doing to her what Soundwave had done.

"Mirage, let's keep this between you and me. If Harley was afraid to share what had happened with the Decepticons, it is because she is embarrassed about it. Human's can sometimes be afraid of sharing experiences like this with others."

Ratchet kept his eyes on his data pad while he spoke so the James and Devon wouldn't suspect his private conversation with Mirage.

"I fear too that James may seek revenge against Soundwave and he'd be no match against him", Ratchet said with concern.

"I understand Ratchet." Mirage stepped back to lean up against the table next to Jazz. Jazz put a comforting hand on the blue warriors shoulder.

The room was quiet expect for the occasional irritated snort from Sunstreaker as he tried to impatiently polish out the scratches he sustained in the rescue.

Although, Ratchet preformed a scan of Harley's systems and didn't seem to find any broken bones, torn muscles or any internal damage to her organs, he couldn't be sure on the health of her mental state.

Ratchet finally broke the tense silence, much to the relief of the others.

"Her bio signs are still slightly elevated but exhaustion and fatigue could easily be the reason for that," Ratchet said to James while he entered information on his hand held scanner.

James nodded a silent acknowledgement. Although, he had heard Ratchet and was relieved to hear Harley was fine, his thoughts were elsewhere.

Devon stared at James's troubled face. "James?" she quietly called out to him.

His eyes wandered from Harley to Devon, meeting her worried gaze.

"She is going to be ok. We are both safe now, so don't go on blaming yourself for what has happened," Devon pleaded.

"It's not that." James responded, shaking his head. James had been trying to figure out all that had happened and what he should do next. Things just didn't feel right.

"It's just…I don't think we are safe. They'll come back. I know they will." He said returning his gaze to Harley.

"Why do you think that?" Devon's question was simple and direct. It made his stomach churn.

Ratchet paused to observe the exchange in the hope that James would share more information.

Instead, James avoided Devon's question altogether and addressed Ratchet.

"I need to speak to Prime," said James.

James still couldn't bring himself to tell Devon the truth about her and her sister. He tried to rationalize the effects of not telling her by telling himself it really isn't a horrible secret but just a secret that would be hard to explain. Even he was confused by the twins and how one came into existence. How do you explain something you know no nothing about or even understand? However, it was obvious that the Autobots had to have the ability to explain it and he just needed to get them what they needed in order to make sense of it. It was Charles who told Judy that these giant robots would one day come looking for what James now guarded. He realized it was time for him to retrieve the silver disks that Charles had saved from that fateful day of the twin's creation. Optimus Prime, he now knew, was the leader of the Autobots and, therefore, the one who may know what to do with disks. Maybe they contained information that he could decipher and use?

Ratchet glanced at Jazz and Mirage before responding. Jazz slid off the table and followed Mirage out into the main room. Sideswipes curiosity was peaked and he quickly gave a tug at his brother's arm before following Jazz and Mirage out of the med bay.

"Sure. We can go now," Ratchet said, setting down his scanner and reaching his hand out for James. James quickly stood up and walked over to Ratchet's open palm and climbed in.

"I'll be back shortly," Ratchet said to Devon. "Bee…Sam… if you don't mind I'd like to you to stay with Devon."

"No problem, doc," Bumblebee responded.

As Ratchet turned to leave he noticed Devon's hurt and confused expression in response to James's obvious avoidance to her question causing Ratchet to feel sympathy for the female.

Ratchet carried James out of the make-shift med bay and into the now crowded main room of the warehouse. Several Autobots milled about recovering from the effort of Harley's rescue or assisting Optimus Prime at their newly designated Teletraan 1 computer.

"Prime," Ratchet called, getting his commanders attention.

"Yes, Ratchet," responded Prime while he continued to type away on the console.

"James would like to speak to you," Ratchet paused noticing out of the corner of his eye several mechs perking up at the request.

The tall commander stopped typing and turned to fully face Ratchet and James, "Is there something I can help you with?" Prime was hoping James was ready to provide more information on the situation with the girls.

"I need someone to take me back to the house in Tranquility. There's something important there that I need to retrieve," said James. He held his breath, hoping this wouldn't require further explanation. But to ensure a yes he added, "It may be something of interest to you."

It took a moment for Prime to respond, as the giant commander pondered the nagging feelings of information that hid locked away in his subconscious core.

"I don't think it's a good idea, James. The Decepticons know where you live, as we have seen. They might head back to search for you there," Prime cautioned. But his curiosity and desire for answers were peaked and he mentally weighed the options and dangers of retrieving this supposedly important information.

"How long would it take for you to retrieve it once your there?" Prime asked.

"A few minutes, if that," James responded quickly.

Prime decided to proceed. If they were going to do this it would have to be now, since the Decepticons were probably still re-grouping from the Autobots surprise raid.

"Very well you can go." Prime said. He turned to his second in command. "Jazz, I want you to take James to Tranquility."

"Will do Prime," piped up Jazz.

A noticeable moan of frustration came from one of the mechs amongst the group of Autobots who anxiously sat observing the exchange between James and Prime. All heads turned towards the twins. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had been begging Prime to let them out to explore this new world but failed to convince him. Prime mentioned that a group called Sector 7 was unaware of their arrival and that he wanted to keep it that way. Regardless of what Prime reasons were, Sunstreaker folded his arms acrossed his chest plates to further show his annoyance.

"Easy you two, I know you've been confined in a ship for that last vorn but your time will come." Prime spoke firmly.

"What would be the harm in following along?" questioned Sideswipe, stepping forward from behind the others.

"With y' two, a lot," Jazz shot back. "James, if we are gonna t' leave it should be now, while the 'cons are still nurs'in their wounds."

James raised an eyebrow towards Jazz in wonder. He was amazed at the knowledge Jazz had of human language including all its slang.

"Let's go then," James responded.

Jazz walked over to the entrance of the warehouse and effortlessly transformed, something made easy with his newly oiled joints and gears.

James couldn't help but admire Jazz's chosen vehicle form of a white Shelby GT500 with blue and black racing stripes across his top; the number four prominently displayed on his hood and side doors.

"Well, I guess we aren't going incognito," James chuckled lightly while shaking his head in disbelief.

Ratchet set James down next to Jazz, who then ran to the driver side door and slid in; even though he wasn't driving he at least could pretend he was.

"Y' ready?" Jazz asked his passenger.

"As ready as I'll ever be," James responded, as he reached over to grab the seat belt.

Prime shook his head as Jazz spun his tires before shooting off out into the night.

Sunstreaker leaned in close to Sideswipe. "Show off," he muttered in disgust. Sideswipe nodded in agreement.

"Prowl, keep an open com link with Jazz." Prime urged. Prime had the upmost confidence in Jazz but he was still nervous that they may run into trouble.

* * *

The drive back to Tranquility passed by quickly. Jazz noticed James becoming more nervous as they approached his home and that of his neighbors, The Witwicky's. He tried to distract the human by starting a conversation with him but it proved more difficult than Jazz had anticipated.

As they turned down the dimly lit tree lined street where James lived, Jazz slowed to a stop. He scanned the area for any Decepticon activity before slowly rolling up the street and coming to a stop against the curb in front of the house.

James sat looking up at the dark house that seemed to hold so many memories both good and bad. He inhaled then exhaled deeply in an attempt to calm his frayed nerves.

"Jazz, I should only be a few minutes." He opened the door and stepped out into the warm night air.

Quickly and silently he raced up the front steps and searched for the house key hidden under the window sill to the right of the door. His fingers fumbled along the underside of the paint chipped edge before resting upon the metal surface of the key. Quickly he pried it from the tape that held it in place and opened the front door. It was dark and quiet inside. Judy must have gone in after he had left with the Autobots and turned off the lights and the TV. He had completely forgotten about all of that. He bounded up the stairs and down the hall towards Charles room. Pushing the door open he reached around the corner fumbling for the light switch.

As he switched on the light he stepped into the room. A movement on the bed caused him to jump, his eyes widen in shock at the sight of a man lying on the bed. It took James only a few seconds to recognize the man.

"Charles!" He ran over and knelt down next to him. "Charles, are you ok? What happened?"

Charles moaned as he fought to open his eyes. "James, get out of here. They are coming."

"I came for the bag." James said, gently fighting off Charles attempts to grab at him.

"Yes, get that bag. Take it before they come. They must not get that." Charles became frantic.

"Easy Charles, I'll get you out of here too," James said trying to reassure Charles. James turned and ran towards the closet before flinging open its door. He dropped to his knees and hurriedly cleared the floor of clothes and shoes. He ran his fingers along a line in the wood before finding a spot were he could hook his fingers under a ledge and pull up a small square portion of the floor. Inside the hidden compartment was a medium size backpack that he quickly grabbed.

"James," he heard Charles mutter in a raspy voice from behind. "You need to get out of here. Sector 7 is on their way. I can't let them know about the twins."

James ran back over next to Charles, "The twins are safe, they're with the Autobots. There is one here now, outside. His name is Jazz and he can help you." James went to grab Charles but stopped when he heard the sound of several vehicles pulling up outside. He froze not sure what to do next. He had no way of communicating with Jazz.

"James you need to leave me," Charles said weakly shoving James away.

"I'll be right back. I'm not leaving you Charles!" James whisper forcefully. James stood up and ran back down the hall. Once at the bottom of the stairs he stopped and carefully peered out around the edge of the stairwell towards the front door. He could see lights out there and hear voices. Quickly he ran through the kitchen towards the back door but stopped as beams of light from flashlights danced across its window.

He knew he was surrounded. He went back around the stairwell towards the back office. Once inside he went for the window that faced the neighbor's house. Tall shrubs offered shelter from the street. He struggled with the window before it finally opened. Quietly he slid out the window and landed heavily behind the tall shrubs. He edged his way along the side of the house under the cover of the foliage before peaking around the front of the house. At first he didn't see Jazz but then he looked further up the street and saw that he had pulled up in front of the house just beyond where he stood. He must have done that to appear as just another car parked next door. James could see several men in front of his house standing around several dark SUVs.

James briefly thought of what Charles had mentioned a few moments earlier about Sector 7. This whole time James thought Charles had been referring to the Decepticons.

'_What was sector 7? He had heard Optimus Prime mention it too_.' Who ever they were both Autobots and humans didn't seem to trust them. He wasn't about to let Charles deal with them alone.

James glanced over at Jazz sitting silently in front of the house next door. The houses weren't far apart and if he ran fast enough he would make it to Jazz without being noticed. He glanced back over to the men by the SUVs. They were looking towards his front door which concerned James, he could be spotted. He backed up along side the house so he would be less visible from the road and quickly made a break for the large Laurel bushes that lined the driveway of the house next door. Carefully he scrambled down the driveway behind the bushes towards Jazz. He collapsed against the passenger side door with a thump, breathing heavily from his efforts.

"Jazz roll down your window," James whispered.

"James, get in." Jazz responded.

"No I can't. The twin's father is in the house and I need to help him. I'm going to stay with him. Those guys back there are here for him. I don't know what they want but the only way Charles will have a chance is if they take me too. I'm going to find a way to bust him out." James finally took a breath giving Jazz a chance to respond.

"James you can't do that. I have t' bring y' back safely. Y' need t' get in." Jazz demanded.

"No. Here take this to Prime and remember this name 'Sector 7'. I have no idea what it is but maybe you guys can figure it out. I'm leaving, Jazz." Without giving Jazz a chance to respond, James threw the backpack into the passenger seat and took off running back towards the house.

Jazz knew the human was determined and there was nothing that the saboteur could do without making a scene. He couldn't risk blowing his cover, especially with Sector 7 agents nearby. Although they were allies, Jazz found their current activities suspicious.

'_What would they want with the twin's father?'_ he wondered.

He waited patiently and scanned the parameter of the home to detect the heat signatures of the humans. There were about 8 humans outside and three large vehicles. Several minutes went by before Jazz registered several men coming out of the house. He couldn't tell James from the others but was able to get a reading on one human whose vitals were very weak. The men were ushered into the waiting vehicles which sped away at a high rate of speed down the street past him.

"Jazz to Prowl, did you get that?" Jazz called through his private com link with Prowl.

"I did, Jazz. I'll see if I can get a GPS signal off the radio devices and phones they are using." Prowl called back. "Jazz, you need to come back. I'll track the vehicles from here," Prowl urged, feeling the saboteur's reluctance to leave James behind.

"Normally I'd argue with y' but being that it's Sector 7, I'd think find'n out what's goin' on shouldn't be t' difficult." Jazz said confidently.

"I'd have to agree with you. I'll let Prime know of this new development." Prowl responded.

Once the vehicles were out of site Jazz pulled out into the street and turned to head back towards the Autobot's temporary headquarters. He feared the reaction of the twins when he came back without James; those femmes had been through so much already.

* * *

Jazz transformed once back at base and handed Prime the backpack. Prime held the tiny bag between his fingers with a look of wonder on his face.

"Prime, allow me," said Bumblebee as he reached out taking the small bag from Prime. With a small blue laser he cut the top off the bag and spilled its contents out onto the table next to Teletraan I. A small box toppled out and spilled open. Several small silver disks fell out. Prime found it another challenge of trying to pick up the disks that now lay flat on the table. Bee once again, came to the rescue. A small pincher protruded out from the tip of his finger which he used to pick up one of the disks. He carefully held it up in the light for closer inspection.

"What are these?" Bumblebee asked Prime.

"Well it's obvious it's some sort o' data storage device," added Jazz as he looked over Bumblebee's shoulder. "Do we have a way of gettin' the information off them?"

Prowl came over to get a better look. "I might be able to find a way but it will take time. Wheeljack might be able to help too. I'll take a scan of these and send the information up to him."

Suddenly, the room shook with a thunderous explosion followed by several smaller ones. The Autobots scrambled to their positions of defense while bringing weapons out of subspace and off their shoulders. Bumblebee gathered up the disks and the box they came in. He ran towards the med bay where Ratchet stood hovering over the girls while he searched about for the source of the explosion.

"What's going on!" yelled Ratchet.

"The 'cons have found us; we need to get out of hear!" Bumblebee yelled back. Bumblebee searched around frantically for Sam before questioning Ratchet, "Where's Sam?"

"I'm here!" yelled Sam, coming out from under one of the med bay tables.

Ironhide and Prowl burst into the med bay, "Quick into the shuttle, all of you!"

Ratchet carefully picked up Harley who he was thankful was peacefully oblivious to the adventure they are about to embark on. Devon seemed calmed but from the look on her face, Ratchet could tell she was frightened. Bumblebee, now holding Sam in one hand, reached over and gently grabbed Devon with his other. Devon's heart jumped as she was scooped up by the giant yellow robot. She put her head down and covered her head.

They followed after Ironhide and Prowl who ran ahead to make sure they could safely make it to the shuttle.

Prime, Mirage and the twins followed after dispatching Barricade with ease. They barely made it onboard the shuttle before Thundercracker and Skywarp swooped down low firing on them as they retreated into the night sky.

Prime yelled to Prowl, "What sort of fire power do we have left on this thing?"

"Wheeljack recently outfitted the shuttle with an EMP cannon. We haven't really tested it yet." Prowl said, glancing nervously at his commander. "With the rate of speed we are traveling, wind speed and atmospheric density I'd say it might not be very useful but.…"

"Prowl, fire the weapon. Skywarp and Thundercracker are gaining on us," Ironhide yelled, cutting Prowl off from any further analysis.

Prowl reluctantly lifted the protective cover on the launch button. "Brace your selves," he cautioned before pressing the button.

There was a sudden lurch causing several standing Autobots to stumble before catching themselves against the nearest wall or chair.

The steady hum of the shuttles engines filled the cabin as they all waited for a response from Prowl and Prime.

"It worked!" said Prowl. "Wow, Wheeljack really did it." The black and white mech rubbed his head with his metallic hand in amazement.

A collective sigh of relief filled the room as the Autobots visibly relaxed. The shuttle's booster rockets kicked on as they ascended further into sky towards outer reaches of the earth's atmosphere.

Sam sat next to Devon against the side wall of the shuttled between Ratchet and Bumblebee. He could feel Devon trembling. He reached his arm around her and pulled her close to him for comfort.

"It will be ok. The Autobots won't let anything happen to us," Sam said in attempt to soothe her.

Devon leaned into Sam and closed her eyes. She winced as her ears popped while her body went from feeling heavy to light and back again.

"What's happening?" She asked to anyone who was listening.

Ratchet reached down and touched her lightly "We are leaving earth and heading towards our ship."

"I don't want to leave earth!" she whimpered.

"We didn't mean for this to happen to you but we had to leave, and unfortunately, we had to take you with us otherwise you would have been killed. We will find a way to bring you back. Don't worry, Devon, we will get you back home." Ratchet said gently.

Tears welled up in Devon's eyes. She wasn't sure how much more of this craziness her body could take. She just wanted to feel normal again. She wanted her life back before all of this. Devon cried a torrent of tears as she leaned into Sam. Ratchet felt completely helpless but would try his best to keep her sane till they could return her and her sister back to earth.

After what seemed an eternity, the shuttle slow before stopping with a slight jolt.

"Prowl, stand by till docking is complete," came a voice over the com link into the cabin of the shuttle. There were several odd clicks and clanks before a rush of air filled the room.

Optimus Prime stood up and walked over to the large shuttle door across from were Devon sat with Sam. He punched a few buttons on the keypad next to the door and with a whoosh of air the door slid open. Prime turned to look at Ratchet, who started to stand while carefully holding Harley in his hand.

"Bee, follow me to the med bay," Ratchet said. Stunned and quiet, Sam and Devon let Bumblebee carefully scoop them up in his arms.

"Hey, you have nothing to worry about," Bumblebee said in an attempt to console the two humans.

"I'm sure your right. I trust you guys," responded Sam nervously.

Devon remained silent with a mixture of concern and fear spread across her face as she rested against Bumblebee's chest. Her eyes wandered around the enormous hall they now strode down. The mech's foot steps echoed loudly down the colorless gray halls.

Eventually they came to a door that at Ratchet's request slid open with a whoosh sound.

"Ah it feels good to be in familiar surroundings. It will be nice to have all that I need and when I need it. No more makeshift equipment," Ratchet said with relief.

The room was large with four large tables across the center, surrounded by various computers and strange equipment. Along the far side of the wall there appeared to be several built in beds which to Devon looked more like large caves.

Bumblebee set Sam and Devon down on one of the metal tables in the center of the room while Ratchet set Harley down next to them. Ratchet then walked over to a metal stand next to one of the tables and picked up several large square sheets of soft material. He brought them over to the table and proceeded to fold each one down to the size of a small bed.

"There… you all have someplace soft to sit or sleep. Which ever you prefer to do at the moment," said Ratchet as he carefully moved Harley over to one of the folded pieces of material and gently placed her on top of it.

"Where's James," ask Devon. Ratchet stopped, caught off guard by her question. He hadn't even thought to question why James wasn't here. Everything had happened so fast.

Ratchet opened up a com link to Prime, "Prime, where's James? Is he with you and the others?"

"I'm afraid, Ratchet, that James didn't make it back from Tranquility. Something came up and he is now with Sector 7," said Prime.

"What would Sector 7 want with James?" Ratchet questioned.

"We aren't sure. But we will be contacting them to find out what is going on." Prime responded.

* * *

Up at the helm of the ship, Prowl noticed several blips on his radar. He metal fingers danced on the keyboard as he typed in coordinates to hone in on the mysterious signals.

"Prime, I'm picking six Cybertronian life forms on radar. Five of them are entering earth's atmosphere near the northern most section of Colorado and the sixth one is projected to land near the north eastern edge of New Mexico," Prowl said. Prowl met Primes optics before adding, "And it looks as though that one is an Autobot."

"There's nothing we can do about that now, Prowl. Who ever it is will have to fend for them selves till we can send a scout back down on earth without the Decepticons knowing. The Decepticons know we've left earth and that is our only hope to draw them away." Prime rubbed his head in frustration from the new development.

With slight hesitation Prime inquired further, "What about the other five, what is their designation?"

"They are Decepticons," responded Prowl as he turned and gazed that the monitor before shaking his head in defeat.

* * *

**Author's note**: At the end of this Chapter is where a new and separate story, tentatively named Flame's Destiny, will start. It follows the lone Autobot's adventures on earth as he searches for his fellow warriors. I'll just tell you now that it's Hot Rod. He has a limited Energon supply so finding them in time is imperative. He, of course, will encounter Decepticons along the way and then some. This new story will be happening in the same time frame as Bold Destiny and eventually they will intersect.


	6. Love and Rockets

**Disclaimer**: _'Transformers' belongs to Hasbro, Paramount and various other companies – characters from the film or any related merchandise do not belong to me and I am making no money out of this fiction from the characters or plot. Any original characters and ideas do belong to me and require permission to use elsewhere._

**Rated T**

**Author's note: **Whew, I'm glad this is done. The next few chapters I've been dying to write for a long time. Hope you enjoy this one and if you dare, please write a review. Thanks for reading.

* * *

**Love and Rockets**

* * *

A kaleidoscope of faces and voices, both human and mech, swirled through his network of audio and visual receptors. Awareness to his surrounding increased till a single voice rose up above the others.

"Wake up you fool!" whined Starscream. Like a blade slicing through his circuits, Starscreams voice caused spastic spikes through his system. "Enough with the lying around get up and report your status!"

Soundwave came fully online, his systems revved to their normal levels. His optical sensors switched on, bringing into view the angry sneer spread across Starscream's face.

"It's about time," he snapped. "What happen to you?" The red seeker stood up straight and folded his arms across his cockpit.

Soundwave sat up and rubbed his metal helmet while shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

"I do not know what happened," responded Soundwave, in his is usual monochromatic and mechanical tone. "Feedback overloaded my circuits," he continued, not wanting to give the more detailed explanation.

"Further research is required," added Soundwave. At least that response was the truth.

"Slag the research. What information, if any, did you get?" yelled Starscream, emphasizing his irritation by leaning in close to Soundwave's face and sneering.

Soundwave's hatred for the red seeker boiled. "I was not able to obtain any new information." He glared hard at Starscream, unwilling to back down and submit.

Starscreams fury exploded at Soundwaves response. "You pathetic excuse for a Decepticon, you are useless!"

Starscream turned to Thundercracker, who had been observing quietly from a chair in front of the control panel.

"Take Barricade and Skywarp to the Autobot base. Retrieve both females and destroy the rest!" he commanded, before turning back to Soundwave, who had now risen to his feet. "Lucky for you, we were able to track those Autobot fools to their base. The females will soon be in our possession. And next time if you fail, you will end up at the bottom of the Abyss along with Megatron!"

Starscream turned and stormed out of the room. Thundercracker scrambled to follow, leaving Soundwave alone in the room. For the first time, he noticed the destruction of the holding cell, the large hole where the entrance to the room had been, and twisted burnt metal littering the floor.

Strange feelings lingered around him. Electrical pulses ran along his exterior in light tingly waves, which made him feel as though fingers were dancing up and down his arms. If he tried hard enough, he could hear a distant voice - the voice of the female. Her screams echoed ever so faintly deep in the back of his mind.

Gingerly, he walked over to the computer console and started tapping in the results of his experiment that he had performed on the human. Within seconds he found the answer. He stood silently downloading the information, and after carefully analyzing the data, he discovered his error. Unfortunately, the new discovery's only power would be to confuse any mech who happen to be present during such an incident. And only he, with his special abilities, would be the one who could feel what the human was feeling. His mind wandered back to that feeling and even tried to reproduce it, but without success. The more he thought about it, the more he desired it. And the more he realized he couldn't have it, the more desperate his desires became. Quickly, he redirected his attention to quell the growing out of control thoughts. Soundwave turned his attention to the cleaning and repairing of the room. He released Blaster and Rumbled to assist him.

After several hours, the three started to make progress. Soundwave was repairing some loose wires on one of the computers when he was interrupted by the Cybertronian detection alarm. Soundwave strode over to the only working computer and examined the radar blips registering on the monitor. The satellite had picked up six Cybertronian life forms. He ran another scan and this time he was able to determine that five of them were Decepticons, arriving quickly toward his location. The fifth signal disappeared over New Mexico. He reluctantly opened a com link to Starscream to share the news.

* * *

Starscream sat frustrated up at the helm of the Nemesis. The large ship sat cloaked amongst the mountains and trees in a remote northwestern section of Colorado. He had sent three of his group off to certain demise, out of desperation and anger. The Decepticons were out numbered.

Suddenly, Thundercracker came across his com link. "Thundercracker to Starscream."

"What do you want?" snarled Starscream.

"The Autobots escaped with the females. Skywarp has followed after them alone, and Barricade is injured," said Thundercracker. "What should we do?"

Thundercrackers transmission was interrupted by Soundwave. "Starscream…," but before Soundwave could finish, Starscream cut him off.

"Starscream…_what_…?" said the red seeker, feeling the need to belittle the blue mech and put him in his place.

There was a brief pause before Soundwave continued, "_Lord_...Starscream I've detected six Cybertronian life forms entering earth's atmosphere. I have confirmed five are Decepticons. The sixth disappeared over New Mexico before I could determine its designation." Soundwaves mechanical voice easily hid his disgust for Starscream.

"Thundercracker, it seems we have a sudden change of plans. Forget Skywarp and bring back Barricade. We need to pick up the new arrivals and re-group," responded Starscream victoriously. His desperate thought of salvaging the remains of Megatron to conquer the Autobots faded, opportunity to conquer without Megatron, was once again available.

* * *

Blurry shapes of giant robots, angry mechanical voices and the vision of Soundwave remained seared into her mind. She desperately fought against the images but they were too strong.

Harley's eyes snapped open allowing the sudden flood of light to temporarily blind her. After it faded and her eyes adjusted, stark grey walls swirled into view. Her legs throbbed with a dull ache. She bent each leg, ever so slightly before resting them back on the soft blanket. A moan escaped her lips in protest of the stiffness.

She caught her breath as a large figure suddenly loomed over her.

"It's all right Harley. You are still safe. I'm Ratchet, the Autobots chief medical officer. I'm here to help you," spoke the giant figure above her. His voice was decidedly male and very calming.

Harley brought her arm up to shield her eyes from the bright light, allowing a clearer view of "Ratchet".

"Where am I?" asked Harley, her voice hoarse from lack of water.

Ratchet took noticed and reached for a small container of water. Gently, he slipped his other hand under her, lifting her up into a sitting position. She put her hands out on the table to steady herself.

He held the water container out to her as he responded, "You are on an Autobot ship. We had to take Sam, you, and your sister away from earth for safety. I guess you could say, you where caught in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"You mean we are in space?" The confusion was clearly evident on her face.

"Yes, and as soon as we feel it's safe, we will take you back." Ratchet said calmly.

He assisted Harley with the water by gently guiding her hand, which held the cup, up to her mouth. She glanced up at Ratchet, her eyes meeting his sympathetic optics, before opening her mouth to drink. Harley hadn't realized how thirsty she was till she had that first sip. With out hesitation she drank deeply, the cool water coating her parched throat and quenching her thirst.

Ratchet raised his arm as a small device popped up. "Ratchet to Jazz."

"Jazz here, what's up?" responded a heavily accented voice.

"Harley is awake. Can you bring Devon back?" Ratchet asked.

"Sure thing, doc we're on 'r way," said Jazz.

Harley could barely contain the relief she felt in being able to see her sister. In her heightened state of happiness, Harley took notice of Jazz's singsong voice. There was something oddly comforting about it.

"Who was that?" she asked, looking up at Ratchet quizzically.

"That's Jazz. He took Devon on a tour of the ship to distract her from worrying over you. We didn't want her getting ill from the stress of the past days events. I guess you could say it was a diversionary tactic on his part," answered Ratchet.

Harley chuckled nervously, "Right, well she can be a little overly protective at times." After silently glancing around Ratchet's med bay she added, "What sort of ship are we on, anyway?"

While answering Harley's question, Ratchet started organizing some of his medical equipment. "We are on the Ark. It is a deeps space interceptor model that can hold about 300 Autobots."

Harley couldn't imagine how enormous this ship had to be to hold 300 robots the size of Ratchet. "Wow," she whispered in awe. Thoughts of the ship brought her to thoughts of the giant robots and the power they held over the human race. They could so easily take a human life. She shuddered as fear started to creep up on her.

Ratchet who had been working quietly, noticed the pained expression that suddenly appeared on Harley's face.

"Harley is everything all right?" inquired Ratchet, pausing to wait for a response.

Harley sat locked in her thought before realizing Ratchet had stopped to wait for an answer. "Oh …yes…I'm fine. Sorry. I… just…I…I don't know what I was thinking about." She nervously said, trying to put Ratchet at ease.

Suddenly, Jazz burst through the door with Devon, startling Harley. His boisterous presence instantly filled the room. Devon, who sat in Jazz's hand with her legs dangling over the side, yelled out to her sister.

"Harley… you're ok!" Jazz brought Devon over to Harley. He lowered his hand as she jumped off and ran over to her sister. She bent down and embraced Harley in mid run, knocking her sister over onto her back. Harley squeezed Devon back, burying her face into her sister's shoulder. Without warning the wave of emotions Harley had been holding back came flooding out, and she cried uncontrollably in her sister's embrace.

Jazz glanced up at Ratchet. Ratchet gave a shrug of confusion. He thought Harley had been fine up until now. They both worried, not only for the two girls but for their future. The Autobots weren't equipped to care for humans and their supplies of fresh water and food were limited.

"What is Prime's plan in getting more supplies for Sam and the girls?" Ratchet asked Jazz.

"We're makin' a stop at the space station orbitin' earth. There isn't much there but hopefully it'll provide us with somethin' to sustain the humans. It's 'r only hope to buy us some time." Jazz responded nervously. "I'm going to leave y' with the two girls and head on up to the helm and see what I can do t' help."

"Sure. Keep me updated." Ratchet said giving Jazz pat on the shoulder, as the black and white mech left.

Jazz strode down the vast hall towards the main control room. He's foot steps echoed down the empty hall that had once been filled to the brim with mechs of all sizes. When he reached the entrance to the ships helm he punched in his security code on the keypad next to the door, opening it with a 'whoosh'.

Bumblebee sat at a side console with Sam perched on a table nearby, while Ironhide, Prime, and Prowl were up at the front. Wheeljack sat mumbling to himself as he typed away on a computer that was scanning the silver data disks that James had given Jazz before they left earth. The twins and Mirage were no where to be seen and most likely in the common room relaxing.

Prime turned at the sound of Jazz's entrance. "Jazz, how is Devon? Weren't you showing her around?"

"Yeh, but Harley woke up and I thought I'd leave those two t' get re-aquainted," Jazz said, sitting down next to Prowl.

"I'm glad to hear Harley is awake," added Bumblebee.

"Bee, can you take me there. I'd like to see her," Sam asked. He was relieved to know his cousin was awake and doing well.

"No problem. Let's go," Bumblebee said, as he scooped up Sam and strode out. "We'll be back later," he called back as they left.

Jazz gave Bumblebee a wave before turning his attention to the remaining group, "How are things goin' up here?"

"According to Wheeljack and Prowl there is still a working space bridge between here and Cybertron. Once we gather enough supplies for our human passengers, we can travel through it," Prime said, "and if we can get to Cybertron before the Decepticons, we can get the reinforcements we'll need to overtake them."

The thought of going home excited Jazz. "Do we know for sure if the humans can make the trip through the space bridge?" Jazz asked concerned.

"We believe they can," said Wheeljack trying to put Jazz's fear's to rest. "Organic beings, although not human in nature, have traveled through them and survived. Humans wouldn't be much different."

"Right, of course," responded Jazz hesitantly.

"We are just trying to figure out how to get into the space station. Sam volunteer to run in and get what we needed but we will need to secure the oxygen levels first," said Prowl.

"But how much can the space station really offer us?" asked Ironhide skeptically.

"Well, not much. Unfortunately, our situation is dire and we need to find a way to sustain the humans during the trip to Cybertron, and till we know for sure why the Decepticons are after the girls. Who knows, maybe they won't find it worth pursuing them into space," responded Prowl.

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Prime turned to see who had entered only to find Skywarp standing before him with his weapon raised and an evil grin spread across his face.

"Hello, Prime," said Skywarp slowly. "The answer to your last question is yes, they're worth pursuing."

Without a second thought Skywarp fired. The explosion hit Prime, ripping into his chest and sending him backwards onto the ships control panel. Ironhide jumped up, pulling his cannons out of subspace and firing off a barrage of bullets. Skywarp stood frozen in place, surprised at the damage he had done to Prime. Quickly snapping out of his dazed state he was able to focus long enough to teleport out of the room before Ironhide could inflict any damage.

"The girls!" yelled Jazz, and he took off running out of the control room and down the hall at full speed. Ironhide followed close behind.

Ratchet was working quietly on his computer while the girls sat chatting with Bumblebee and Sam on one of the medical tables.

"Bee what form do you take," Harley asked. Bumblebee had just finished explaining to the girls that each Autobot had a specific form that they had scanned on earth, and that each of them transformed into some sort of vehicle.

"My alt mode is a Camaro," said Bumblebee.

"You mean a yellow Camaro?" she asked slowly.

"Yup, that's right… _my…_ yellow Camaro. You know…the "upgrade"," Sam interrupted with a grin.

Harley's felt her cheeks grow warm. She looked up a Bumblebee then back to Sam. Devon nudged her in the side.

"You know, the one you gave the lap dance too," Devon said, instantly stifling a laugh.

Harley glanced back up at Bumblebee with horror, her embarrassment evident. She was mortified at knowing that this giant robot had first hand experience with her backside.

"I'm sorry Bee. If I had known…," she started to say but Bumblebee cut her off.

"Don't worry about it Harley. It was…," Bumblebee paused searching for the right word before continuing, "…entertaining." He gave Harley a gently pat on the shoulder.

"Right," she said, feeling the warmth in her face growing more intense from Bumblebee's response.

Unable to contain themselves any longer, both Sam and Devon busted out laughing. However, their carefree moment was rudely interrupted as Skywarp appeared out of nowhere.

Ratchet and Bumblebee jumped up pulling their weapons out of subspace and aiming it at the white and purple seeker just as Jazz and Ironhide came charging into the med bay.

"I've come for the girls," he sneered, raising his weapon towards Sam. "Don't try anything fancy or the male get's it."

"Easy Skywarp, you don't want to do that," said Ironhide, in attempt to calm the skittish seeker.

"Do you want them dead or alive?" questioned Ratchet, trying to find a way to distract Skywarp.

"Alive, of course, the dying part will come later," growled Skywarp.

"Don't you know that humans need air to breathe," said Ratchet firmly.

"What are you getting at, you disgusting Autobot?" Skywarp shifted nervously, his intimidating demeanor starting to crumble at Ratchet's seemingly lack of fear.

Jazz side stepped quietly behind Skywarp, making his way towards the girls who sat huddled with Sam on the center medical table. Ratchet continued to draw Skywarps attention.

"What I'm getting at is, if you take the girls now you'll never get them to earth alive. You are a fighter jet, not a space pod. They'd die, not only from lack of oxygen, but from freezing to death in your cockpit. That is, unless you can get to earth, from here, in less than 30 earth seconds." Ratchet shot back.

Skywarp's expression changed from evil smile to nervous frown as he realized his error. He knew Starscream would never let him live this moment down. He decided retreat was his only option and facing Starscream was inevitable.

"I suppose your right," conceded Skywarp. He stood for a moment, his weapon fixed on Sam while he watched Ratchet and Ironhide. Concealing his intentions of escape with a blank face, the purple and white seeker quickly teleported outside the Ark, his destination – earth.

"Wow that was fast," Sam said, breaking the tense silence.

Harley and Devon sat holding each other with horror filled expressions. Bumblebee replaced his weapon and walked quickly over to the girls.

"Everything is ok. He's gone for now," Bumblebee said soothingly, reaching out and gently placing his hand protectively up against the back of the girls while bringing his face in close. He was able to grab Devon's attention but Harley turned away.

"Harley," Jazz spoke from behind Bumblebee, his smooth voice wrapping around her like a soft warm blanket. "That 'con wouldn't have gotten away with take'n 'y. We wouldn't 'v let that happen."

Harley looked up at Jazz. "You sure about that?" she asked turning to gaze up at him.

"I am," Jazz responded. "He's not the brightest 'con of the bunch as he demonstrated, plus he wouldn't 've made it very far. Besides he was outnumbered."

Jazz watched as Harley relax and was glad that he was able to help her.

Bumblebee nudged Jazz. "Smooth talker," he teased.

Jazz cracked a smile at Bumblebee and Harley. And to Jazz's surprise both girls smiled back. But his happiness was short lived as Wheeljack and Prowl stormed into the med bay carrying an unconscious and wounded Optimus Prime. Jazz hadn't realized Prime had been hurt that bad when he and Ironhide left to pursue Skywarp.

"Over here!" yelled Ratchet pointing to the table next to the where the girls sat. "Easy now," he said as Prime was lifted up onto the table.

"Skywarp caught him off guard," Wheeljack said, the lights on his head flickering in unison as he spoke. "He's leaking all over the place."

With a grim expression Ratchet worked quickly to find the source of the leaking energon. Glowing pink streams of energon pooled onto the table beneath Prime. The Autobots watched with worried expressions.

"Ratchet, is he still alive?" Ironhide demanded, his fear getting the better of him.

"I'm getting a faint spark pulse, but it's fading quickly," said Ratchet.

Wheeljack worked frantically to assist Ratchet by attaching sensors to what was left of Primes chest cavity. Primes inner spark chamber was barely visible behind partially crushed pieces of metal and ripped wires. Ratchet could tell there was damage to his chamber by a glowing blue shadow emitting from Primes inner cavity.

Wheeljack lifted his arm to his radio and opened a com link to Mirage and the twins. "Mirage, there has been a security breach. Prime has been seriously wounded. We need your help. Not far from the common room, on the level 3, there is a secure storage room. It contains a few cubes of refined energon. We need them right away!"

"Affirmative Wheeljack, we are on our way!" exclaimed Mirage.

Ratchet glanced briefly up at the Autobots, standing around looking on in horror, trying to absorb what they were seeing. "Prowl, what's the status of our energon supply?" he asked.

There was a brief pause before Prowl answered, "There's enough to get us back to Cybertron. We only anticipated a quick rescue. If we can get back to Cybertron there's a hidden supply station with a large amount of energon waiting for us."

"Then we need to skip the stop at the space station. There isn't enough time. Prime can't hold on forever. He is in stasis lock to conserve his energy levels and the refined energon will only go so far," Ratchet paused, hating to bring their situation down any further. "Prime's systems don't seem to be repairing themselves and I'm not sure why."

"We'll head to the space bridge. Let me know when Prime is stabilized, then secure the humans. After that we will make the jump and head towards Cybertron," said Prowl, his determined optics meeting Ratchet's.

Prowl turned to leave, followed by Ironhide and Jazz. The three passed by Mirage and the twins who passed by caring several tubes of refined energon. The three new arrivals slowed to a stop next to the table where Prime lay fighting for his life. Their mouths hung open in disbelief as they sullenly handed the tubes to Ratchet.

"Enough. Get out and go help Prowl and Hide," Ratchet snapped.

"Is he going to make it?" Sunstreaker asked softly.

"I don't know," Ratchet responded quickly, as he went to work creating a supply line from the tubes to Prime.

Reluctantly the twins and Mirage left to help the others.

* * *

His voice called out to her. His red visor glared hard at her, making her feel exposed and vulnerable. "Come to me, Harley," he called out to her. The pleasure he had given her lingered vividly in her memory. Just the thought of him evoked a subtle wave of ecstasy from within.

Darkness descended upon her. She felt cold metal beneath her feet as she walked through the inky blackness with her hands outstretched, searching for anything that would help guide her. Suddenly, her fingers found a warm metal wall. Moving her hands along it she found a small key hole that turned the instant she touched it. The wall slid open revealing a large circular room with a smaller circle outlined on the floor. The room was lit by a glowing light that rose from a small hole in the center of the circle. Without warning the room began to shake and the circle on the floor began to open, setting free thousands of strange metal faces that rose up and encircled her. They called her name while reaching out with their mechanical hands. Their screams for help echoed just before their horror stricken faces were sucked back down and melted into a whirlpool of bright orange lava. Despair filled her heart forcing her to cry out. A deep soft voice called her name as something nudge at her side.

Harley sat up, breathing heavily, her forehead moist from a light sweat. A strong feeling of being watched forced her to slowly look up. She let out a startled yelp when her eyes met the blue visor of Jazz which hovered mere inches away from her face.

"Easy Harley it's just me. Are you alright," Jazz said softly, his visor coating her in a light blue glow.

The room was dimly lit since Ratchet had turned the lights down so that she, Devon and Sam could sleep. The only sound was the constant beeps of the monitors attached to Prime before Ratchet's foot steps broke the silence. Jazz stood up and moved out of the way as the medic approached.

He bent down close to inspect her. "Is everything alright?" he asked, his blue eyes flickered as he scanned her.

"I'm fine. I just had a bad dream," Harley said trying to calm the worried medic.

"What sort of dream," he inquired. He was curious to know whether Soundwave's torture had damaged her mental stability.

"Dreams about robots... and Soundwave," Harley said. She couldn't bare the thought of anyone finding out about her experience with Soundwave and the feelings he left her with, so she kept her answer vague.

Ratchet hid his worry from her and spoke to her confidently, "I wouldn't worry. Those dreams should fade in time. If anything your feeling or experiencing concerns you, do not be afraid to tell me."

Harley looked up at him, meeting his flicker blue optics. "Your temperature is elevated and you are loosing fluids," Ratchet said as he touched her soaked shirt.

Suddenly, she felt very exposed. It always seemed like Ratchet was looking through her when he scanned her, and that made her very uneasy.

Jazz turned to Ratchet, "I could take one of your containers up to the wash racks and fill it up for Harley. That way she could clean her self. I know human's need to bath often and she hasn't had the opportunity for awhile now."

Harley became instantly nervous. "Um, I'm ok…I don't need to bath besides I don't have any clean clothes to wear afterwards," she said quickly. The thought of a warm bath was tempting, but getting naked in front of Jazz and Ratchet was not.

"That won't be a problem. You can wash your clothes too and while they dry you can keep warm with one of our polishing clothes," responded Ratchet. Reaching over he grabbed a polishing cloth off the shelf to show her.

She glanced nervously from Ratchet to Jazz as both mechs stared down at her. "Uh I don't think so. To be honest I just don't feel comfortable," she said.

Jazz stepped in realizing her concern. "Harley, Ratchet here can setup a little screen for privacy. I'll go 'n get y' some water. I'll be back in a moment." With that Jazz left the room.

Harley sat dazed. "If you say so," she said softly to the exiting mech.

Ratchet couldn't help but smile at her strange concern over exposing her self. "Humans," he muttered to him self and shaking his head. He went right to work in setting up a small square enclosure for her as they waited for Jazz to come back.

It seemed like an eternity before Jazz came back and when he did was caring a small container of water. Carefully, he set in the center of the makeshift shelter for Harley. Ratchet came over and deposited a polishing cloth near the shelter for her. Hesitantly, she stepped behind the curtains, only to realize that the shelter only blocked the view of those her height and not those who were so tall that they could easily view her from above. She looked up to see Jazz smiling back at her.

"How is it?" the white and blue mech asked.

"Well, it is fine but you can still see me. Could you at least turn around?" Harley asked.

"Sure," he said, having a little fun with her odd concern. Jazz turned around and faced towards Ratchet. Ratchet shook his head and made sure he kept his distance from the little shelter.

Harley carefully peeled off her clothes and threw them into the water, before easing in one foot at a time. Surprisingly, the water was warm. It took only a minute for her to get use to waters temperature before she submerged her self beneath its wavy surface. The hum of the ship, the beeps of monitors and the loud steps of giant robots were gone. She drank in the silence before rising out of the water to take a breath. She could have stayed there forever, but knowing that any minute someone might see her undressed moved her to bath and wash her clothes quickly. When she was finished she reached over the side of the container, past the curtain and took hold of the polish cloth. She pulled it to her as she stood up and wrapped it around her.

"I'm finished," Harley called out.

Jazz turned around and walked over to her. He fished her little pieces of clothing out of the water and squeezed the water out of each piece before laying them out on the metal table.

"They should be dry shortly," he said quietly and giving her a smile.

"Thank you," she responded.

Harley nearly melted at his gentleness. His attempts to make her feel at ease had not gone unnoticed. And he seemed to always be around in her moment of need. Part of her was amazed that an alien robot had the ability to be so attentive and oddly this made him very attractive but then another part of her wondered if he had ulterior motives.

Ratchet came over and once again starting scanning her. "Do you always have to do that?" she asked, slightly annoyed.

"I do not but the health of my patients is my top priority. So as long as you're in my med bay expect to be scanned," he said with just enough firmness to put Harley in her place.

His intimidating response sunk in and Harley decided against arguing any further. She understood that he was only doing that because he cared. Instead, she looked past Ratchet towards Prime.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" trying to divert his attention away from her.

"Not right now. But if there is I'll let you know," Ratchet responded gently. "Now try and get some rest. We are a short distance from the space bridge and you'll need to be awake for that trip."

"Sure." Harley lay back down, adjusting the large blanket around her before rolling over on her side and facing the dark, still figure of Prime, his body appearing all the more enormous as he lay on the table.

Harley watched as Jazz turned and walked over to the far wall where there were several built in beds. Climbing in to one of them he lay down and went quiet. Harley assumed it must be the giant robots beds. She thought it strange that they needed to sleep at all but then again they seemed so human in every other aspect, so why shouldn't they sleep too.

Her thoughts drifted from giant robots to those of James and her father, who were somewhere back on earth. After a few minutes sleep overtook her as she drifted off into fitful dreams.

* * *

"Skywarp to Starscream," cracked Skywarps voice over Starscreams com link.

"What do you want Skywarp," came the whiny voice of Starscream.

"I believe I mortally wounded Prime," said Skywarp.

Starscream froze in disbelief. "You…mortally wounding the great leader Optimus Prime? I don't believe you," he snapped sarcastically.

"Believe it. Would I lie about something like that?" Came Skywarps angry response.

A long moment of silence filled the com link. "Come back to earth. We are changing our plans," responded Starscream in a mischievous tone.

Please Review. Thanks.


	7. Transformation

**Disclaimer**: _'Transformers' belongs to Hasbro, Paramount and various other companies – characters from the film or any related merchandise do not belong to me and I am making no money out of this fiction from the characters or plot. Any original characters and ideas do belong to me and require permission to use elsewhere._

**Rated T **

**Author's note: **I hope you enjoy this. I've read this a million times and tried to get all my errors but I'm sure there are still more. I've been working the next three chapters constantly for the last month trying to get them just right so they line up and flow properly. I also have to keep Destiny Rules in mind when writing this. So please, please, please leave a review. What did you think?

* * *

"**Transformation"**

* * *

The silence of the night was broken by several thunderous explosions in quick succession. Starscream stood silently on the ridge of the human mining camp observing the landing of the five new Decepticon arrivals. Each protoform unrolled and stood. They sensed Starscreams presence and after receiving his messages, they also knew he was their new leader.

Starscream transformed with swiftness and flew down to where the new arrivals stood waiting for his command.

"Welcome, my fellow Decepticons to our latest conquest. There is much work to be done and very little time. It won't take long for the Autobots to realize we aren't coming after them. We need to be prepared for when they return," he snarled to one in particular.

Scrapper stepped forward. "We will find our alternate earth forms as you have instructed. Then we will prepare for extermination and start on the new base," he said. He turned to the group of dark grey robots standing behind him. "There are plenty of earth machines here. Scan them and then follow me," Scrapper commanded.

Each robot turned and scanned the construction machines near them. Once they were finished, Scavenger, Mixmaster, Hook and Longhaul followed after Scrapper towards the Nemesis. Knowing that the constructicons where slow travelers, Starscream gave the coordinates of the Nemesis to Scrapper before flying off ahead. He had little patience for the slow traveling group. He'd rather wait in the comfort of his own base than trudge along with that bunch.

Soundwave was not happy. He didn't like the turn of events since the demise of his glorious leader, Megatron. He wondered who the latest arrivals would be, and whether he could convince them to form a mutiny against Starscream. Gradually, his thoughts wandered back to Harley as they often did, lately. He knew her name but refused to say it in his thoughts, until now. He didn't like saying it and had tried to avoid it. But one day it crept up on him and popped out of his memory bank into his conscious mind. It made him angry. A realization slowly dawned on his dark and tortured spark. He lifted his optics from his work at the thought, gazing straight ahead into the blurry images of his mind.

"No," he whispered in shock.

As the shock subsided the anger rose. He slammed his fist down on the console in front of him. "No!" he yelled with agonizing fury. "Primus, No!" he repeated with defeat.

Had he mistakenly bonded with the female?

'_It can't be possible, not with an organic!_' he screamed in his mind. Would he now, against his will, have to walk the fine line between good and evil? He hated that line. It was distinct. He couldn't ignore it no matter how hard he tried.

"That slagging human," he muttered to himself.

His moment was interrupted with the noisy stomping of Starscream. Soundwave glanced over his shoulder towards the red seeker, who lately, walked around with a constant grin of satisfaction on his face. Starscream stood at the entrance of the room scrutinizing the dark blue Decepticon before speaking.

"Soundwave, the constructicons have arrived. They'll be here shortly. Prepare to brief them in detail on what our plans are. You will be working closely with Scrapper on the annihilation of earths organic inhabitants," he commanded.

Starscream turned to leave and head up to the control room but stopped short of the door. He glanced back over his shoulder towards Soundwave. "Don't think that I don't know what thoughts are moving through your pathetic mind. I know how you feel about me. But if you betray me, you will pay with your spark."

Soundwave watched the red seeker leave. After a moment, a smile spread across his face. He knew he'd soon have his allies.

* * *

Harley was gently shaken awake by a large warm hand. She slowly opened her sleep filled eyes. "Ratchet?" she groaned, sitting up and rubbing her eyes before glancing over at Devon who was doing the same. Sam seemed to have the most trouble waking.

"He could sleep through just about anything," Bumblebee said as he continued to poke Sam, who fought back against the large robot finger.

"This shouldn't be too difficult. We would like to have the three of you awake, in case anything was to go wrong. We'll secure you for the space jump," Ratchet said as he gathered his loose items.

"What about securing Prime and yourselves?" asked Devon.

"We are heavy enough. It's just that sometimes small light items tend to fly around a bit. And…well…you humans could possibly count as small light things. So we will hold on to you just in case," Ratchet said.

Once the small items where secure, Ratchet walked over to girls and gathered them up in his arms.

Bumblebee scooped up a still groggy Sam and they both stood firmly against the tables while Ratchet called to Prowl over his com link.

"Prowl, we are ready in the med bay," Ratchet said.

"Stand by Ratchet. You know the drill," Prowl responded.

The ship shuttered and whined. A few seconds later a large jolt shook the hull. Ratchet and Bumblebee stood firm but to Harley it felt like the ground had dropped from beneath her. She turned to glance at Devon just as she let out a quick gasp. Sam's eyes snapped opened while he let out a yell and gripped tightly to Bumblebee.

"What the hell!" he yelled. "Where am I?" He had finally woken and it took him a moment to realize where he was. "Ah man, I was dream'in about bedtime fun with Mikalea. Come on send me back!"

"Ewwww, too much information Sam!" Devon shouted with a twisted face of disgust.

Their exchange was interrupted by a sudden blur and another forceful jolt. Devon quickly raised her hand to her mouth, stifling the urge to puke. The world swirled around them in waves before suddenly stopping.

A crackling of radio static echoed from Ratchet's arm. "Ratchet, we are through. Is everyone ok?" asked Prowl.

Ratchet looked around at the three humans, scanning them quickly. "We made it. All systems are good here."

Ratchet hid his worry and quickly opened a com link to Wheeljack. "Wheeljack you need to find a way to get the humans food and water, quickly. They can't survive long with out it."

"Ratchet, I've found a way to sterilize the water from the wash racks. We can use that for their drinking water. As for their food, I'm still working on it but I'm not far off from finding an alternative. But even with that, we will need to get back to earth soon," Wheeljack said, his voice heavy with worry.

"Thanks Jack," Ratchet replied. "I know you can come up with something."

Jazz entered the med bay; Harley glanced up quickly meeting his blue optical visor. And for a moment…just a moment…she felt her heart jump…and that he could see it. Jazz paused, his gaze lingering on her, a smile rising up from the corners of his mouth.

"How's Prime?" he said breaking his hold on her and turning to face the tall green mech.

"His holding on, barely," Ratchet responded.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, followed by Ironhide, burst into the room.

"How's he doing?" asked Ironhide anxiously.

Ratchet sighed. "He's hanging in there, now relax, all of you. If you are going to hang around the med bay I need you to stay out of the way," he grumbled.

As if it couldn't get any more crowded, Wheeljack slumbered into the room a few minutes later looking drained and sullen.

Jazz glanced between Ratchet and Wheeljack and realized that the two mechs hadn't had the opportunity for a recharge since they left earth.

"The both of 'ya 'r in need of a recharge. Out now!" Jazz urged.

He moved around the medical table where Prime lay and forcefully shoved Ratchet. If Ratchet hadn't been in desperate need of rest, Jazz would have found a wrench, or any one of Ratchet's tool's, slamming firmly up against his head but this time Ratchet knew Jazz was right. Ironhide came up behind Wheeljack and turned him back around towards the door as both he and Jazz forced the two exhausted mechs out of the med bay.

"Jazz, hands off, I can walk there my self," Ratchet snapped, brushing off Saboteur with his hands. Ratchet turned on his remote monitors that would alert him to any change in Prime's condition before he walked on down the hall, towards some much needed rest.

Wheeljack followed quietly behind.

* * *

The great planet shuddered and woke from his ancient slumber. His systems came online as they were activated by a distant beacon. The inhabitants of the planet simultaneously stop, sensing something. But they couldn't quite seem to place the feeling. Unable to process what had just happened they continue on with there daily lives.

He awakened, sensing the return of his creation. The fire deep within his core began to build as his spark pulsated erratically before syncing up with the rhythm of the distant signal. The pulses beat together in unison, building till finally his power was complete. A circular explosion shot outward in all directions like a ripple in a pond after a rock had been dropped in its still water. The clear wave moved outward away from the giant planet and towards the distant spark. Soon activation would be complete.

* * *

Prime lay on the table with his life force slowly slipping away.

Earlier Ratchet and Wheeljack had left the medbay for a much needed recharge, leaving Ironhide, Bumblebee, Jazz and the twins to stand watch. Even though Prime didn't need watching, Ratchet let them stay for their own sake. Sam and the girls tried their best to distract the mechs with conversation but with some difficulty. They jumped at every little sound from Prime.

Ironhide had been chatting with Harley when a large pop was heard. All heads turned to Prime's body just as a small plume of smoke rose from his chest cavity.

There was the thunderous noise of hurried metal feet moving about as the mechs scrambled over to Prime to see what had happened.

Ironhide had discovered a vital circuit had blown. He leaned over Prime trying to figure out how to get to the circuit and melted wire, which was located in a particularly narrow area of Prime's chest. His hands were far too large as were those of the others. Even Bumblebee's pincers weren't long enough to reach the area that had popped.

"Where's Ratchet!" he bellowed as he strained with a small tool, trying to reach the circuit.

"He's on his way," Jazz said standing by helplessly.

"Maybe I can reach it," said a small voice from behind the group of frantic mechs as they crowded around their leader.

"You can't, it's too dangerous," Ironhide grunted as he worked to save Prime.

Harley refused to give up. "Please, you saved us. Let me help you. I think my arm is small enough to reach in there. Just tell me what to do," she persisted.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker glanced between Jazz and Ironhide. Ironhide had stopped to consider the offer.

"You two can't be seriously considering it?" Sunstreaker questioned with surprise.

"Prime is seconds away from death. If this is our only hope…" Ironhide started to say, but was cut off by Jazz.

"We have to try," Jazz interjected.

He turned to the next table and held out his hand for Harley. She glanced up at his visor trying to read his emotions. He carried a worried frown and she wanted nothing more than to erase that worry. She climbed quickly into his hand. Jazz carefully lifted her over to Prime and set her down on his chest.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Devon said apprehensively.

"Devon, Let me do this," Harley called back to her worried sister.

Sam moved in next to Devon as Bumblebee reached out and rested his hand against her back. "They wouldn't allow her if they felt her life was at risk," Bumblebee assured Devon.

Harley could feel the heat from Primes spark rising up out of his opened chest, surrounding her with warm relaxing air.

"Harley, it's very important to stay away from the spark chamber. It will burn y' skin. Keep your arm as close t' his chest wall as possible. Do y' understand?" Jazz asked. The concerned was evident in his voice.

"Yes," Harley said as she tried to hide her fear.

"I need ya' t' take this wire and push it into that connector," Jazz added pointing down into Prime's chest.

Harley gave a nod of understanding before taking the wire from Jazz. She turned and lay down, flat on her stomach, while Jazz held her securely in place by pressing his hand down on her back. His warm touch sent unexpected shivers of pleasure dancing down her spine. Regaining her focus, she reached down inside Prime with her left arm towards the existing melted wire. She wiggled forward, suspending more of her body out over the edge. Reaching deeper inside, she brought her hand closer to the wire she needed to replace. Puffs of heated air warmed her cheeks and dried her eyes while she strained and stretched into Prime's chest.

"Easy", she heard Ironhide say in his southern drawl. She felt Jazz press down, adding more pressure as she leaned in further.

Her hand had just reached the wire, when Ratchet and Wheeljack burst into the medbay moments before the room was instantly filled with a blinding white light.

* * *

The clear ripple in space rolled towards the unsuspecting ship, its target in sight. Like a gentle wave in a pond it rolled through the ship before slowly dispersing into the space beyond. It only took a second before all became still and silent again.

* * *

Prime's body worked furiously to repair the damage but its efforts where hampered by an unknown intruder. Each circuit and conductor became a conduit for this foreign invader. The only thing untouched, or at least it seemed, was his memory.

Suddenly, he felt a surge of electricity shoot through his limbs, then back up again in a continuous pattern. Vision's appeared in his mind, visions of his recent trip to earth and his interaction with the humans. The electrical current intensified causing him to tense up with the growing pressure which border lined on becoming painful.

The visions became clearer and he started to hear their voices. He heard Sam, Devon and Harley conversing but only Sam and Devon appeared in view. Day turned to night and he heard Barricade before blackness engulfed him. For awhile there was silence and then voices faded in again. He saw Soundwave, Skywarp, and Starscream. Their mouths moved without sound.

Finally he saw Harley. She was lying on a table beneath Thundercracker's hand which held her down firmly. Without warning, Prime shuddered as a rush of pleasure blew through his steel frame while he observed Harley and Soundwave. He instantly knew what had happened. Prime watched Soundwave's shocked face go blank as he went into stasis lock. The Decepticon had unknowingly created an irreversible bond with the human.

Why hadn't Harley told him what had happened? After further thought, he realized she couldn't tell him. She didn't have the knowledge to know what had taken place. She was innocent of the Cybertronian ways. For all she knew something indecent had happened and she was too embarrassed to share it with anyone.

He made a mental note of talking to her. He would have to educate her on what had taken place. And, hopefully, Ratchet could find a way of severing the connection.

His thoughts were cut short with another electrical surge but this time it was painful. He moaned in agony just before a quiet peace washed over him, instantly relieving him of all the pains he had ever experienced. Pleasure and happiness lifted him as those around him came into view.

* * *

Blinding white light engulfed the room and all its occupants. Time stood still and sound was extinguished. For a brief moment no one existed. Then as suddenly as it had come, it left, bringing in a flood of sight and sound.

Mechanical gears grinded and clicked while air from intakes gushed in and out as mechs steadied their systems. There was an uneasy shifting of steel joints from those who stood about, trying to figure out what had just happened. Everyone exchanged looks of concern as they accounted for those around them and made sure there weren't any injuries. Eventually all eyes rested back on Prime.

"What?" barely escaped Ironhide's vocal processors as he stood staring down at his commander.

"What happened?" Prime groaned, still groggy from his stasis lock.

Prime glanced up at all the gaping mechs surrounding him, frozen in shock, their mouths hung open.

"Prime, don't move," Ratchet said slowly as his optics moved down Prime's body towards his chest.

Prime felt a heavy weight on his body and lifted his head to follow Ratchet's gaze towards whatever it was. He was surprised to find, sprawled out over his chest, a small white and blue, unfamiliar femme.

"It's Harley, Prime," whispered Ratchet in shock.

Prime gazed down at her in sympathy and amazement. Now there would be much more to explain to her.

Harley's arms dangled over his sides and off the table while the rest of her body covered Prime down to his knees. She stirred slightly. Prime carefully reached up with one hand and placed it firmly on her back, holding her still.

"What happened to Harley?" Jazz asked. His voice was filled with horror as his visor locked on to Harley trying to visually register what had happened.

"I don't know", Ratchet murmured with disbelief. Wheeljack moved in near Prime while Ironhide and Jazz stood on the other side with the twins.

Bumblebee moved in to get a better look. Sam sat in shock while holding tightly onto Devon who sat trembling in his arms.

A scream rattled the stunned silence, startling the mechs. All heads turned quickly to Devon, who sat on the neighboring tabled, wide eyed with horror as she gazed over at the form that lay where her sister had been a few seconds earlier. Devon's cries turned into uncontrolled panic. She quickly scrambled up onto her feet and pushed herself backwards towards the edge of the table. Sideswipe moved in quickly and caught her before she could reach the edge. She fought blindly against his grip as her body shook with wrenching sobs.

"Sides, get her out of her, Now!" yelled Ratchet.

Sideswipe turned and quickly carried her from the med bay. He decided against trying to calm her till she regained her senses, which he hoped would happen once he moved her to a secluded location. He cradled her close to his chest as he ran through the doors and down the hall.

Sam sat looking on in shock but felt he should stay to help calm Harley when she woke. He didn't have to wait long. Devon's screams jolted her awake. Prime pressed down and held Harley in place as she tried to move.

"Easy Harley, don't move," Prime said soothingly.

Harley emitted a mechanical murmur. The sound of her voice confused her and Prime felt her spark pulse increase as she stiffened with fear. All those around her stood suspended in anticipation. Suddenly the stillness was shattered by the clattering of metal parts and loud yells as Harley, who with surprising swiftness, became a mass of flailing arms and legs. In her attempt to control her limbs, the lower half of her body slid off Prime towards Sunstreaker. The yellow mech quickly reached out in an attempt to catch her but only managed to grab one of her legs. Her other free leg hit him in the chest, leaving a deep scrape across his yellow exterior. The force of her kick sent him stumbling backwards to the ground in surprise.

Prime's grip on her slipped as she rolled off him toward the floor. He managed to keep his grip on one arm as the rest of Harley's body slammed into the ground below. Ironhide and Jazz danced around her limbs as they struggled to restrain her. Ratchet and Wheeljack ran around the table to where Ironhide had managed to grab onto both of Harley's legs while her free hand fought off Jazz. A strained cry escaped her from vocal processors.

"Harley, it's Jazz, stop moving," he yelled. Eventually he gave up trying to be gentle. He leaned in and tackled her. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her arms tight to her sides and putting all his weight on her as he forced her to the floor. Prime released her other hand allowing Jazz to keep her pinned down until Ratchet and Wheeljack could figure out what to do.

Bumblebee reached down and pulled Sunstreaker out of the way while Sam sat dazed and helpless as the surreal scene played out before him.

"Hold her still Jazz," yelled Ratchet as he moved in close. Holding his EMP generator to her neck, he gave her a shock with the lowest setting. Harley instantly went limp.

There was a collective sigh as the mechs relaxed. Prime sat up and moved off the table, carefully stepping around Jazz and Ironhide.

"Put her over here," said Ratchet as he stood up next to Prime.

"What did you do to her!" yelled Sam.

"Don't worry Sam; he just put her into stasis lock. She'll be fine," Bumblebee said.

Jazz released his grip and moved aside so Ironhide could move in and lifted Harley onto the table where Prime had been.

Wheeljack moved in to get a closer look at her. "I've never seen anything like this?" he said in awe as he examined her. He waved one of his scanners over her body as Ratchet, from the other side, opened a small compartment where her collarbone would have been.

After scanning Harley, Wheeljack turned to Prime and continued his scanning along Primes now smooth exterior.

"You are completely repaired," Wheeljack said. "You where near death. We had your chest wide open. I just don't understand any of this. It defies the laws of the universe?"

"What happened?" Prime asked, surprised to hear that he was near death.

"You where wounded by Skywarp. He got a lucky shot in and nearly blasted your spark clean out of your chamber," Wheeljack responded.

"Harley was trying to save you," Ironhide added, equally stunned by the turn of events. "We had her reaching into your chest to replace a blown circuit in an attempt to you're your life."

"All I have to say is she's one quick femme," added Sunstreaker as he ran his hand across his scratched chest plate. "I hope she'll be ok."

"She'll be fine…as far as a mech goes," said Ratchet, shaking his head while looking her over. His interior and exterior scans where picking up strong organic readings.

"It seems as though Harley has physically changed but still retains strong organic makeup.

Prime gazed down at Harley as his spark beat in unison with hers, strengthening their bond with each pulse. His memory of her moment of transformation seeped in to his CPU like sun rising up over earth's horizon. But he decided against telling anyone about what he was feeling till he could understand it further himself.

"What are we going to do?" Ironhide asked, "And what about Devon?"

"We'll have to teach Harley how to use her body," Prime said. "Ironhide, what's our status on our current location?"

"We are close to Cybertron's outer rim. We'll be within view shortly," responded Ironhide.

"Good. Then let's get in touch with the southern outpost and let them know we will be arriving for supplies and refueling. What's the status on the Decepticons?" Prime added.

"We haven't detected them since coming through the space bridge," Ironhide said.

"We should be concerned about that. Why didn't they follow us?" Prime asked.

"I'm not sure. If they are still on earth the humans will be defenseless without us," Ironhide said nervously.

"We need to refuel quickly. We need to get back to earth," Prime said with worry. "Jazz, Ironhide, Sunny, I'd like to meet up at the helm with Prowl and discuss what to do next. Ratchet let me know when Harley is awake and calm. I'd like to speak with her."

"Will do, Prime," Ratchet said. With out wasting time Prime left with Ironhide.

"Let Ironhide and I know when your going to bring her back online. We'll help you out," Jazz said before turning to follow Prime and Ironhide.

"No problem," Ratchet responded as he went back to work picking up the tools that had fallen on the floor.

"Well, guess you can say we've seen it all," Wheeljack said to Rachet as he stood scanning Harley.

"Yup, I think your right, Jack," responded Ratchet with a nod of disbelief.

* * *

"You want us to start rounding up the humans?" Thundercracker questioned, giving Starscream a confused look. "Do you realize how large this planet is? It could take years!"

"This is a ridiculous plan!" yelled Scrapper incredulously.

"Do you have a better idea?" Starscreamed snapped in a snarky tone. "This is just a start. It's really just to inflict as much damage to the earth as we can to get back at those oppressive Autobots. The real pleasure will be in seeing their reactions. They will realize that they've lost not only their home planet but their battle as well. And anywhere they go, they will see that they bring death and destruction, not salvation."

Starscream looked skyward with a thought of satisfaction. Scrapper glanced at Hook who shook his head in disgust. Soundwave's expressionless optics stared straight ahead as if he were lost in thought. Scapper opened up a private link.

"Soundwave, why do you tolerate this?" Scapper asked.

Soundwave cleared his optics and turned to face Scrapper.

"I'm not," He said simply.

It was Scappers turn to shake his head, _'A 'Con of few words."_ "Do you have a plan?" he asked.

"Yes, simply destroy him," Soundwave stated.

Scrapper knew what he was referring to but there was one problem. "We can't without Bonecrusher," he responded. "Do you have a way of bringing him back?"

"Not yet," Soundwave responded.

Thundercracker and Skywarp observed the private exchange between Scapper and Soundwave. Although they couldn't hear them, they knew what was taking place. Starscream was too busy with his ranting to take notice.

"Fool," mumbled Thundercracker.

"What was that?" Starscream suddenly asked, turning to Thundercracker and causing all in the room to take notice.

Just as he turned towards Thundercracker, Soundwave felt an electrifying pulse of energy shoot through his body. He bellowed out in pain before collapsing to the floor in a heap. He rolled over onto his back, staring up at the grey ceiling. His vision swayed as sparks danced up and down his body. Another wave of electricity began building. He tried to prepare himself but nothing he could do was enough for what came next. Power, pleasure and happiness like he had never felt before rolled over him in waves. And as suddenly as it arrived it left. But the feeling of happiness did not leave. He felt stronger and healthier than he had since the day he came online. He felt different.

He lay there for several moments as Hook leaned over and scanned him.

"What is going on with you?" Hook asked.

"I'm fine. It's nothing," Soundwave responded as he struggled to stand.

Longhaul, who was nearby, reached out and lifted Soundwave easily with his large hand, "Stand and now let's destroy," he grumbled, bored with all this discussion of plans.

"Easy there", Scrapper said. "There will be plenty of time for battle. First we need to gather supplies so we can start building our base."

"I need to rest," Soundwave stated in his mechanical tone. And without giving Starscream a chance to respond he swiftly left the room.

He moved down the hall with determination and purpose. He knew now he had the power to resurrect Megatron and those who had fallen with him. He could feel the power radiating from him. But as he entered his room he stopped short. In the cell against the back wall sat three battered humans. They glanced up at him with horror stricken faces.

"Disgusting humans," he muttered to himself.

Just then Starscreams voice came across the com link. "Soundwave destroy the humans before you enter recharge."

Soundwave didn't mind obliging Starscream on his request since he detested the humans as much as any Decepticon. He strode over to the cell and opened the door. His concussion blaster rose out of subspace in his arm and he took aim at the humans. But as much as he tried he couldn't complete the task. He felt…odd…almost compassionate for their current situation and their impending death. Why was he feeling compassion? He could feel the humans fear as they sat looking up at him. He was unsettled by the turn of events but not broken. Releasing Ravage he gave him the order to take the humans out and away from the Nemesis to release them. Blocking the act from his mind he turned towards his recharge berth and climbed in. He quickly went offline.

* * *

Thanks for reading, don't forget to review.


	8. Madness

**Disclaimer**: _'Transformers' belongs to Hasbro, Paramount and various other companies – characters from the film or any related merchandise do not belong to me and I am making no money out of this fiction from the characters or plot. Any original characters and ideas do belong to me and require permission to use elsewhere._

**Rated T**

**Author's note: **And it continues. I hope I found all my errors. Feel free to let me know if I didn't. Read and please, please review. Thank you.

* * *

"**Madness"**

* * *

Scream after scream assaulted Sideswipes audio receptors. He clapped his hands to his head while standing in front of Devon, praying to Primus for an end to the human's madness. For the first time he was at a loss for what to do next. All he could do was stand there, watching the helpless and distraught human whose face was twisted into an expression of utter pain and distress. His spark ached as he frantically tried to come up with something that he could say or do to make her feel better. But for now he just stood there waiting for her to grow tired from her hysterics. Sideswipe had to wait a long time but eventually her screams subsided and turned into whimpers with an occasionally sudden stop, followed by a strange sound. This concerned him and felt Ratchet ought to be notified. He thought about how he might be interrupting Ratchet with the current medical situation going on in the med bay but the health of this female was just as important as her sisters.

"Sides to Ratchet," he said over the com link.

"Yes, Sides," Ratchet responded calmly.

Sideswipe relaxed with relief. "It's Devon; she's making a strange noise. Here, listen," he said, holding his arm close to Devon, but not so close to where Devon could reach it.

Ratchet listened patiently. Devon's whimpers came clearly over the com link. Wheeljack, who was helping Ratchet, turned to listen in. After a moment Ratchet responded.

"Sides, that's a hiccup. It's nothing to be concerned about. Just keep her there awhile longer. I'll call you when we are ready to bring her in," Ratchet said.

Sideswipe switched his com link to private. "Ratchet, is Harley going to be alright?" He asked concerned.

"Yes, she will be. It will take time but she will be fine. She's alive. As for trying to explain this to Devon, well, that will be the other challenge," Ratchet added with uneasiness.

Sideswipe sighed before turning back to Devon. Devon lay on her side, twisted over with her face buried in her arms. Slowly, she turned her face towards him, her blue eyes meeting his blue optics. Then carefully she pushed her self up into a seated position while she wiped her cheeks dry with her sleeve. She glared up at Sideswipe.

"Your right about that," Sideswipe said to Ratchet. "I'll be patiently waiting for you call then," he added before flipping off his com link.

Bravely, Sideswipe reached out with his hand and spoke as calmly and softly as he could while still being heard. "Devon, your sister is going to be alright. She's alive." He thought she might be relieved to hear this so he made sure it was the first thing he said.

"She NOT alright!" she spat back furiously. "She's gone! How can she be alive when she's gone?" Her body shook with growing anger and distress.

"But Devon, she's not gone. She's….just….different," he was at a complete loss for words.

'_How do you explain something that you can't even understand your self?'_ he thought to himself.

"It's all your fault, all of you….things….robots, whatever you call yourselves. I wish we had never met you guys!" she screamed.

Sideswipe reached out to touch her. He had remembered Jazz doing that to comfort Harley. Instead, he was met with a thump on his finger as Devon swung back in an attempt to fend of his advances of comfort.

"Don't touch me! I want to be alone!" she choked out before collapsing back onto the metal floor of the berth and unleashing a torrent of agonizing tears.

Sideswipe shook his head. "Harley is alive whether you believe it or not. You can either accept it or not. But if you don't accept that she's alive, then you're not accepting your sister," he said firmly.

"That makes no sense," Devon shot back, her voice muffled as she kept her face buried in her arms.

"Well, I'm not very good at explaining things but maybe Ratchet can. Your sister is going to need you now more than ever," Sideswipe said.

"She's not my sister. And you can tell Ratchet, Prime and anyone else who will listen, that I want to go home, NOW!" she said, lifting her head from her arms long enough to be heard loud and clear.

"I'm sorry Devon, but we can't do that right now, not without bringing destruction to those who live on earth," Sideswipe said firmly. "We will take you back as soon as it's safe to do so."

"I hate you," was all Devon could muster in her exhausted state.

"I know," Sideswipe said, as he sat down on the berth opposite of where Devon lay. It was going to be awhile before Ratchet was ready and talking to Devon any longer was pointless. He might as well get some much needed recharge in.

* * *

The Autobots stood around assessing their current situation. They had decided to send a message to Hot Rod, who had arrived down on earth after they had left, in hopes of alerting him to the situation.

"Do you think he'll be ok?" Prowl asked skeptically.

"He's tough. He may be a little foolish at times but this could be to his advantage. I'm hoping he will be able to safely update us on any Decepticon activity," Prime said.

Ironhide let out a grunt, "Hot Rod is a renegade. He does his own thing. I just hope your right, Prime and he takes his situation seriously."

"Easy Hide, it's been awhile since you've seen Hot Rod. He could've grown in t' a fine Autobot warrior by now," Jazz said in attempt to ease Ironhide's distrust of the young Autobot.

"Jazz is right; I'm sending the message now. It should get their shortly and, hopefully, he'll give an update," Prowl said as he pressed several keys on the ships console.

Prowl turned to face Prime after sending the message. "How's Harley? Is she going to be alright?" Prowl asked.

"I'm not sure. I just hope she can handle the change," Prime responded in repose. "She'll have to be fine." Quickly changing the subject, Prime prepared the Autobots for docking at the outpost.

"Mirage, I want you and the twins to load the supply of Energon. Jazz has managed to secure a large supply that will be waiting for us. Ironhide, you'll work with Ratchet to get medical and electrical equipment supplies. Prowl you take care of the communications between the ship and the outpost while I notify Ultra Magnus of our return and alert them on the situation with earth."

Their conversation was interrupted as Ratchet came across Jazz's com link. "I'm ready to bring Harley online, when you and Hide are ready to assist me."

"We'll be there shortly," Jazz responded. He turned to Ironhide. "'Y ready?" he asked.

The bulky gray warrior stood. "Let's go," Ironhide said as he moved towards the door.

"Let me know when Harley is calm. I need to speak with her," Prime called out, as the two Autobots left.

"Will do Prime," Jazz called back.

* * *

Ratchet prepared to wake Harley for the second time. Stasis cuffs where securely attached and holding her hands together while Ironhide stood across the table from Ratchet. Jazz cradled her head by placing his hands on either side of her temples. He leaned over to watch her optics light up, indicating her online status.

"You two ready?" Ratchet asked.

"Ready as we'll ever be," responded Ironhide.

"Seem 'ta be 'yer favorite say'in today," Jazz chuckled.

"You can thank Sam for that one," Ironhide growled back in response.

Ratchet reached over to the computer, he had connected to Harley for monitoring, and slowly turned a dial which released several short pulses of energy into her small frame. A loud whine of small motors could be heard but then faded as Harley's optics lit up to a brilliant blue.

Jazz leaned in close. "Harley, can y' hear me?" he asked.

Harley struggled as she tried to speak but could only manage a whimper. Her systems suddenly spiked as air gushed in and out of her intakes at a frantic rate.

"Calm down. 'Y are gonna be alright," Jazz soothed. "Just relax. Try and slow yer breathin'."

Jazz knew mechs didn't breathe but for Harley it was different. Though she no longer breathed as a human, mentally she still did. Jazz decided that in order to get through to her, he'd have to relate how her new body worked as if it were her old one. It would be some time before he could teach her how to slow her energon flows and cool her systems.

The three mechs waited patiently for Harley to calm herself. Earlier, Ratchet had giving her a larger than normal dose of refined energon in hopes of relaxing her. It seemed to be working because within minutes Harley's systems were normal as she looked up with wide optics.

Finally, with great effort she spoke. "What…happen…to me?" she asked, her voice cracking as she balance on the edge of panic.

"We aren't sure," Ratchet responded, "But we will try and do everything we can to help you." He didn't want to give Harley any false hopes since he wasn't sure he'd be able to cure her and make her human again.

"We are going to give you control of your body so I want you to be careful and listen before trying to do anything. Do you understand?" Ratchet said.

In her attempt to nod, her optics rose up and locked onto Jazz. She had been unaware of her surrounding till now and was slightly startled to see his glowing blue visor so close to her.

Seeing her optics widened with surprise, Jazz quickly made an attempt to calm her. "Easy," he said, easing up on the pressure he placed on either side of her face. "Ironhide will help you stand and walk."

Harley's optics flittered between Jazz and Ironhide before she managed a nod that Jazz may not have seen but felt.

"She's ready," Jazz said to Ratchet.

Ironhide reached over to release the stasis cuffs. Ratchet gave Harley another dose of energon which sent her mind spinning before stabilizing again.

"I feel drunk," she muttered.

"It's just the energon. It will help you relax," Ratchet said as he stepped back from the table.

"If you give me too much I don't think I'll be able to stand," she added, feeling extremely tipsy.

"Don't ya' worry, that's what Ironhide is here for. T' catch 'y," interjected Jazz, giving Harley a gentle smile.

Ironhide release the stasis cuffs while holding onto Harley's hands. Carefully, he sent the cuffs aside before grabbing onto each arm and pulling. Jazz and Ratchet pushed her from behind as all three pushed her into a sitting position.

As long as she didn't make any sudden moves, her smaller than normal size made it easy for any single mech to handle her.

"Now that wasn't so hard," Ratchet said.

Ironhide put Harley's arms up and over his shoulder while he gripped her waist. Suddenly, strange feelings swept through her body causing her to panic. She gripped Ironhide tightly as she kicked out with her legs in panic. Jazz and Ratchet jumped back as Ironhide pulled her off the table. What she lacked in size she made up for in swiftness and surprise. Inadvertently she slammed her legs into the edge of the medical table causing Ironhide to topple backwards. With one arm still holding her tightly he reached out with the other to catch himself as he crashed to the floor. Harley rolled off and onto her stomach. In a desperate attempt to stand, one of her feet hit a barrel of dark oil near one of the tables causing it to topple over, coating her in thick slipper black goo.

"This isn't good," mumbled Ratchet as he reached out to get a grip on Harley.

Harley stopped moving as she felt the oil run over her body. She lay her head down in exhaustion and began to cry in frustration and fear. Her body shook as her cries grew stronger.

Jazz knelt down beside her and touched her gently on the shoulder. "Harley it's ok. I'm here for 'ya," he said soothingly. Her sadness and confusion tugged at his spark.

"I can't do this," she sobbed.

Ironhide had managed to right himself and crawled over to where Harley lay. Ratchet tossed him a couple of polishing clothes which he used to mop off the excess oil that covered her body. The light pressure and feel of the soft clothe felt good to her. Her wracking sobs subsided till she became still and silent. She lay with her cheek pressed firmly into the cold steel of the ships floor and gazed forlornly at Jazz's feet.

Once Ironhide had finished he gave the rags to Ratchet. He had managed to get most of the oil off, with the exception of a thin coat that left her white exterior grey and dull. Streams of dark oil still dripped from the crevices of her body.

"Ok, Harley let's try again," Ironhide said. "I know you can do this."

He stood up before bending down and gripping Harley around the waist with one arm while slipping the other under her chest. Carefully, he brought her to an upright position, her feet dangling precariously against his body. He lowered her till her feet touched the floor. She knew what she had to do and made a consorted effort this time. With several grunts and small worried yelps she managed to stand, putting all of her weight on her legs. Once he felt she could stand, Ironhide release his grip from around her waist. He stood back slightly while still keeping one hand on the middle of her back, to steady her.

"I did it," Harley said with a sigh. "I can feel my legs now. They feel like they did when I was…." But she trailed off, her smile turning quickly into a frown.

"It's ok. Don't think 'bout anything but tryin' t' walk," Jazz said as he moved in and gently took her by the arm. "Now let's take a step."

Ironhide steadied her as Jazz gave her a small tug on the arm. Ratchet stood behind them watching curiously. At first it felt as though her legs were blocks of cement. But with focus and mental will she managed to lift and move her leg forward.

"There 'ya go. You can do it," Jazz encouraged, pulling her gently forward.

After several hours of encouragement and work, Jazz and Ironhide had Harley walking around the med bay as if she had been born a mech. The grin on her face was a relief to the three Autobots who watched her, overcome her first obstacle. It made them feel that there was hope in helping her adjust to her new life as an Autobot. Ironhide had offered to train her while Jazz would help her with Autobot's lifestyle and any mental set backs she may encounter. Ratchet felt Jazz was best suited for the job considering his ability to understand other species, especially humans.

"You've done great and made more progress than we thought y' would," Jazz said patting Harley on the back. "Now you need to get some rest."

"I have a spare recharge berth over against the far wall. That will be yours for now," Ratchet said as he walked over and guided Harley by the arm towards the berth. Jazz softly guided her from behind. "I'll give you a little something to help you sleep," Ratchet added. Harley glanced at Ratchet with concern. "Don't worry it won't hurt," he said, feeling her hesitate in his grip.

"You'll be fine," Jazz said, rubbing her back.

The feeling of his touch sent strange tickling sensations that wrapped around Harley's upper torso. She glanced back at the black and white mech, who grinned brightly in return. She smiled shyly at him before quickly turning back to the berth. Had she been human, her face would have turned a bright shade of red. Harley felt a growing friendship in him, even a hint of something else but she wasn't ready to admit that, not yet.

Harley willingly climbed into the recharge berth and lay down. She glanced at Jazz one last time before Ratchet held a small tool up to her neck. Her head spun she drifted off to sleep.

"Thanks for helping. I think she is going to be alright. Next, we need to work on Devon," Ratchet said walking back over to the medical table. He gathered up more polishing clothes from the shelf and began the process of cleaning the floor.

"It was no problem," Ironhide said, moving over to assist Ratchet.

"Maybe we should have Sides bring Devon in now," Jazz suggested.

"I think your right. Best to bring her in while Harley is offline so she can get used to her presence," Ratchet said, before raising his arm to call for Sideswipe.

"Ratchet to Sideswipe," Ratchet called.

A moment later Sideswiped responded. "Sides here… are you ready to see Devon?" he asked.

"Yes, bring her in," Ratchet said.

"On our way," responded Sideswipe.

Ratchet turned back to cleaning and straightening his tools while Ironhide lifted the oil barrel upright.

Ratchet's processors worked hard as he tried to figure out a way to get Devon to accept Harley. While in thought over what to do, Ratchet noticed how both Ironhide and Jazz had a fair amount of oil splashed across their fronts, along their arms and down their legs. Then suddenly it dawn on him.

"I've got it," Ratchet shouted louder than he had intended, startling the other two mechs.

"You've got what?" Ironhide asked curiously.

"A way to get Harley and Devon to work together or at least on the road to accepting each other," Ratchet said. He produced several clean polishing clothes and set them over on one of the tables. "I need you two to go to wash racks and clean up. Then meet me back here when you are finished. You both will need a good rub down afterwards. I plan on having the girls do that for you."

"What? No way. I don't feel comfortable with that," Ironhide protested.

"Relax Ironhide, the girls aren't familiar with what rubbing you down will do to you," Ratchet said.

"I'm looking forward to it," Jazz said, with a mischievous smile on his face.

"Of course you will," Ironhide said annoyed. He trudged off to towards the med bay doors.

"He'll get over it," Jazz said before following after.

"Oh he will," Ratchet mumbled to him self.

It wasn't long before Sideswipe came in carrying a very unhappy looking Devon. She refused to look up at Ratchet. Sideswipe set her down on the medical table nearest Ratchet. Devon sat crossed legged with arms folded protectively against her chest.

Suddenly, Prowls voice simultaneously came over Sideswipes and Ratchet com links. "We've docked. I need Sideswipe to come down and meet up with Sunstreaker and Mirage to help with loading the energon."

"I'm on my way," responded Sideswipe. "Well Ratchet, looks like I'll have to help you later. Good luck until then," he added with obvious relief.

"Thanks," Ratchet said sarcastically. He decided to ignore Devon and proceed with cleaning the med bay. He figured silence would be good for her right now and he hoped that she'd become curious as to why he wasn't talking to her. She'd be forced to make the first move.

* * *

With the help of several Autobots stationed at the outpost, Mirage and the twins were able to quickly load the energon. Ironhide procured a list of medical equipment Ratchet had given him and was working on Prowls list.

Back on the ship, Wheeljack sat at his work bench, with Bumblebee and Sam, looking down at the small brown glob of goo, roughly the consistency of peanut butter. It was Wheeljack's latest creation and the new food source for their human companions. Sam glanced up at Wheeljack with a look of disgust.

"Wheeljack, are you sure this is ok to eat?" Sam asked with a worried expression.

"It's definitely ok to eat. Come on now, try it," the tall white mech said pushing the food closer to Sam.

Bumblebee offered some more encouragement. "Don't worry; Jack is great at this kind of stuff. It's not like it will explode or anything like that," he said.

"Explode? Does he normally create things that explode?" Sam stuttered, his eyes wide with fear.

"Well…," Bumblebee hesitated, glancing between Wheeljack and Sam, "Normally….yeh but this isn't a normal creation…it's food. What could go wrong? Go ahead, it will be ok." Bumblebee gave Sam a nudge of encouragement with his large mechanical finger.

"Right," Sam said slowly. He reached out and pulled the plate closer. After careful examination, he reached out and touched it. The blob of food was no larger than the palm of his hand. He scooped up a small amount with his finger and after closing his eyes he tossed it in his mouth and chewed. To his surprise it wasn't that bad. It wasn't great but it was tolerable.

"It tastes like super sweet peanut butter. Not bad Wheeljack," Sam said.

The two mechs let out a collective sigh of air from their intakes.

"Good, then I'll make more so we can get you guys fed," Wheeljack said relieved. "You can go ahead and eat the rest of that."

Sam didn't hesitate. He was starving and had been for awhile. He quickly finished off the small glob of food which did little to satisfy is hunger.

Wheeljack handed Sam some water before turning back to creating more. Wheeljack knew a small amount wouldn't be enough and he could only imagine how hungry Devon and Harley were. He caught his thought process and stopped it short. He had almost forgotten that he would no longer need to make food for Harley. He looked over at Bumblebee and smiled to cover up the hurt he felt over what had happened to her. There wasn't a mech on the ship who hadn't felt bad for her situation.

"Bee, why don't you go and fill up on some much needed Energon? I'll keep Sam company till you return," he said.

"Yeh, Bee go ahead. I'll be fine," Sam added.

Feeling comfortable that Sam would be ok, Bumblebee agreed and quickly left the two behind. He ran down the hall to the rec room where several visiting mechs were hanging out and talking with Jazz.

He quickly moved up to the Energon dispenser and filled up a small cube before sitting at the bar next to Jazz.

"Hey Bee," said a silver mech sitting next to Jazz.

In his depleted state, it took Bumblebee a moment to recognize the tall mech. It had been a long time. He had changed slightly.

"Bluestreak?" Bumblebee asked with hesitation.

"Yup, How are you?" Bluestreak asked with a grin.

"I'm fine. I see you've acquired a few upgrades. Looks nice," Bumblebee said as he lifted the container of energon to his mouth. He drank deeply.

Bluestreak gave Bumblebee a pat on the back. "Thanks. We were worried about you and the others. I'm glad to see you've all made it back even if it's only for a short time," he said with a strained expression. Bluestreak thought he'd never seen his fellow mechs again. When he found out that they were returning he refused to believe it till he saw them with his own optics. He was overwhelmed with joy when he found out it was true.

"Prowl is on his way down here. Stay and join us," Jazz interjected, putting his hand on Bumblebee's shoulder.

"I'll do that. Thanks," Bumblebee responded.

* * *

Through his intricate and vast network of circuits flowed several small packets of information. Their destination, the Autobot ship now docked on his southern side. At the speed of light they traveled, through the ship, till they reached their source.

Ratchet glanced up at the sound of Prime entering the med bay.

"Prime," Ratchet said, standing and walking over to his commander.

"How's Harley?" Prime asked.

"She's doing fine," Ratchet said, as he led Prime over to where she now slept. "We have her up and walking."

"Good," Prime said. He cast a sideways glance at Devon who sat silently on a med bay table with her back facing them.

"And how's she," Prime asked softly as he motioned towards Devon.

"At the moment, not good but I have a plan that might work at getting them to at least face each other," Ratchet said.

Prime turned back to Harley. He reached out and touched her softly on the chest. Without warning, a quick shock of electricity shot through Primes fingers tips, jolting his body.

"Prime, are you alright?" Ratchet asked after sensing a sudden spike in Primes systems.

Prime couldn't speak. His inner memory core had been taken over as the voice of Primus rang through his audio circuits.

"Bring her to me," he spoke, his mechanical voice echoing through Primes CPU. The connection was brief and the strong after effects lingered. An invisible force pulled at him.

Ratchet stood silently scanning Prime, watching his systems rising and falling erratically. Harley stirred next to him.

Finally Prime spoke. "I have to take Harley somewhere," Prime said reaching over and sliding his arms under her body, lifting her from the berth.

Ratchet put his hand out to stop Prime. "Prime, are you alright? Where do you have to take her?" he questioned. He normally didn't question his leader but considering the reading he just registered on his scanner, he felt it was necessary.

Prime turned to the medic. "You will have to trust me, Ratchet," he said firmly. "Do you trust me Ratchet?" Prime met Ratchet's optics with determination.

"Yes, I do," Ratchet admitted. He watched as Prime left with Harley in his arms.

The pull was strong and Prime knew where he had to go, deep into the center of Cybertron. The memories that had been locked away for thousands of years had suddenly been released and he remembered everything. He remembered his objective and most of all what Primus was about to offer them.

Up the ramp he walked out onto the streets and byways of his home planet. Jazz and Ironhide met Prime at the entrance. A large transport vehicle pulled up and opened its door. The group entered quickly as it shut its doors behind them. Off it sped towards an ancient hidden location known only to those it carried.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please review.


	9. This Ancient Coil

**Disclaimer**: _'Transformers' belongs to Hasbro, Paramount and various other companies – characters from the film or any related merchandise do not belong to me and I am making no money out of this fiction from the characters or plot. Any original characters and ideas do belong to me and require permission to use elsewhere._

**Rated T**

**Author's note: **Sorry for the long breaks in between chapters. Besides all the other stuff I have to do, I've also been fiddling around with Photoshop and drawing more which distracts me but after a long wait, another chapter. Next Chapter will give some updates on what the Decepticons are doing. I'd like to say thanks to all of those who leave a review. Read and please, please review. Thank you.

* * *

**"This ancient Coil"**

* * *

The clatter of metal footfalls echoed loudly through out the ancient halls of Cybertron, while the constant hum of machinery filled the silence in between. To Harley the sounds around her where distant and quiet but the touch of metal gently rubbing up against her shoulder and thighs riled her senses. She struggled to wake her self but her body refused to respond. As her mind sat suspended between a semi conscious and unconscious state, visions of Optimus Prime vaguely registered somewhere deep within her memory banks.

The last few weeks of her life seemed to be a blur of bizarre images. It wasn't to long ago that she was a normal human girl with her whole life ahead of her. And now she was on a strange planet and learning to live her new life as a mech. It had happened so fast that she still had not had the chance to let it truly sink in. It seemed like a dream and at any moment she'd wake from it and be normal again. She prayed for that day.

* * *

Optimus Prime glanced protectively down at Harley as he strode down the dark halls. Jazz and Ironhide had taken their positions at the secret entrance, guarding it as they had done in the past. Now Prime moved with swiftness, for time was short. The enemy was everywhere and the secret chambers of Cybertron were at risk as long as he traveled through them. After several turns he reached the end of the hall where he paused before a massive square door. In the center of the door was a round key hole. But Prime didn't have a key this time.

"The disk," echoed the voice of Primus.

Prime remember the disks that had been found with Harley. Unable to crack the codes before their stop on Cybertron, Wheeljack had given them to Prime for safe keeping. Prime shifted Harley closer to his body before reaching over to pull one of the disks out the subspace in his arm. With delicate precision he placed it in the key hole. He could hear the click and slide of the gears working within the thick steel door. A few seconds later it began to slowly open. Inside was the small room just as he had remembered. Nothing had changed. Even the tools that were spread out on the center table remained in their original scattered pattern. He moved quickly inside towards the table, clearing it was one sweep of his arms and Harley's body. He then set her on the table before walking over to the computer.

"Prime, come closer," Primus commanded.

Prime stepped closer to the computer and opened his chest, revealing his glowing blue spark and the matrix he held safe above it. Once again a metal spear shot out from the console and connected to the small round lock within Prime's chest. Images moved through his mind as Primus unlocked Primes deeper memory banks.

"Harley is a gift to all Transformers. I will entrust her with you, Prime. A small part of her power has been inadvertently given to the Decpeticon, Soundwave. Although limited, he has the power to give life to some of those who have died. And there remains a bond between him and Harley. You are the only one who can break that bond. And with your help she will have the power to create," Primus paused, giving the Autobot leader a moment to absorb what he was saying.

"But I thought we had lost that ability long ago? How is it possible now?" Prime questioned.

"Your answer lies through that door," Primus said.

Prime turned and scanned the room before his optics came to rest on a tall arched door. A small beam of light emitted brightly from its center. Strange glowing symbols slowly rose from the doors smooth surface.

"The Well of Sparks!" Prime whispered in awe.

"Yes," Primus responded. "The well of sparks will soon cease to exist. Harley is my only hope for their salvation. Each spark will have a chance at a new life. The Allspark is growing weaker as it is separated and dispersed throughout the universe. Soon its power will no longer exist. In ancient times Transformers had the ability to reproduce by reusing existing sparks that would flow into the well of sparks when their life was extinguished. The spark would exist in an alternate dimension till it was released again."

"What about the previous owner of the spark?" Prime questioned, "Were they brought back to life then?"

"In some cases, yes, but in most no. Their memory was suppressed and stored deep within their memory core while new memories were created," Primus explained. His mood changed quickly as if alerted by some unknown danger. "Prime you must hurry now. You will learn more in time but you must take Harley into the Well of Sparks."

The computer released its hold on Prime allowing the Autobot leader to move over to where Harley lay in stasis lock. He tilted his head sympathetically towards her, knowing that her life would never be the same. It would be difficult to help her accept and understand her destiny. Carefully, he picked her up in his arms and carried her over to the door.

"Put her hand on the door," Primus instructed.

Prime placed her hand on the key hole in the center of the door. A jolt of soothing electricity shot through him. He glanced down at Harley who seemed to glow through her oil covered shell. Their bodies together were surrounded by a continuous moving white pulsating light. The door opened, releasing a gush of hot air across his body. With the energy field still surrounding them, he moved into the large circular room. He glanced around unsure of what to do next. Without warning the floor began to slide open, revealing a molten pool of boiling orange lava. Mechanical screams rang out as faces of past Transformers rose up from the hot liquid. Prime pressed his body against the side wall and firmly planted his feet on the narrow ledge that remained after the floor had opened. The hot wind in the room began to pick up, whipping about his body. He tightened his grip on Harley. More ghostly faces swirled around the room as the screams grew louder.

"Together Prime….. you and Harley will hold the last of the sparks. She will give them life and you will give them the soul. The matrix cannot exist without the well of sparks. And only together can they ensure the existence of Transformers," Primus said.

The rush of wind made it harder for Prime to hear the words of Primus. Slowly, lava began to rise from the center of the room as it was sucked up by the force of the swirling wind. And as it rose, Prime noticed that it wasn't lava he was looking at, but glowing energy. Like a snake rising out of the water, it broke free from the vortex of wind and moved closer to him as if it had a life of its own. The heat from the energy bathed his body. He felt stronger and more powerful the closer it came.

"Open her chest," Primus commanded.

Prime reached down and opened the small compartment in Harley's chest. The glowing orange snake moved closer and closer till it came within inches of Prime's face. It paused briefly before diving down and connecting to a small metal box within Harley's chest. Prime watched in amazement as the Well of Sparks emptied into Harley. As whipping winds and the echoing rush of air reached their apex, he felt Harley jerk in his arms. He tightened his grip on her small frame. The hot winds instantly stopped when the tail end of the glowing orange tube of energy disappeared into Harley's chest. The room became eerily quiet. Prime glanced down at the empty well. Nothing but a black hole remained. Quickly, he turned and left the room. He ran through the main control room and out down the hall towards the elevator that would take him to where Jazz and Ironhide stood guard.

Upon his return to the med bay Prime informed only those in the upper ranks of the Autobots about Harley's status. They spoke through their private com link, being aware that Devon, in her current state of mind, could not be trusted to keep Harley's secret.

"Y' mean she's a sort of carrier of sparks?" Jazz asked curiously.

"Yes," Prime said, "Within her are all the sparks, of all the Transformers that have ever existed."

"And she can bring back a spark by planting it in a new transformer body?" Ironhide questioned.

"She can help us replenish the existence of Transformers," Prime responded. "However, we must use it wisely."

"If she were t' get into the wrong hands…," Jazz started to say but drifted off at the horrible thought.

"It would not be good," Ratchet said, finishing Jazz's sentence as he gave Harley a once over check.

"So it's important that her secret is kept amongst us," Prime announced.

Ratchet, Jazz and Ironhide all nodded in agreement. Prime knew they could be trusted.

"Jazz, Ironhide….you two can return to your original tasks. We don't have much time and must get back to earth soon," Prime said as he glanced one last time at Harley.

"Ratchet, keep me updated on Harley's progress and when you feel she's ready I would like to spend some time with her myself," Prime added.

"No problem," Ratchet said.

Prime turned and walked out of the med bay to meet with Prowl and ready the ship for its trip back to earth.

Ratchet turned back to Harley as he readied to wake her. He shot a quick glance behind him at Devon, who continued to sit silently on the table. He shook his head at her seemingly unending stubbornness in accepting her situation. This was going to be more difficult than he thought. Turning back to Harley he gave her a jolt of electricity, bringing her back online. Her arms involuntarily shot up, nearly smacking Ratchet in the face. He quickly reached out and forced her arms back down onto her stomach, holding them firmly in place.

"Harley, wake up," Ratchet coaxed gently. He watched as her optics flickered before becoming a more steady hue of blue.

"What happened," she moaned. Her head swirled with sounds and strange visions as she struggled to fully wake herself.

"You were sleeping. Now just try and relax a bit," Ratchet said, easing up on his grip when he felt her arms relax.

Seeing Harley struggle to sit up, Ratchet reached out and lifted her into a sitting position.

"Thanks," she said shyly.

"It's not a problem. You may have difficulty doing things for awhile so don't be afraid to ask for help," Ratchet said soothingly.

Devon's still figure caught Harley's attention. Ratchet watched as Harley's optics locked on to the back of Devon. A smile quickly spread across her face at the sight of her sister.

"Devon, I'm so glad your here!" she said with unsuspecting exuberance as she moved to the edge of the berth.

Ratchet reached out and stopped Harley. Devon, ignoring her sisters call, remained motionless.

"Devon?" Harley called out again. "Are you alright...Is she alright?" she said, whisper the last part to Ratchet out of corner of her mouth.

"She is alright, Harley…but you see…" Ratchet started to say but before he could finish Devon turned towards them.

"You are NOT my sister!" she screamed, eyeing Harley for the first time and with unadulterated contempt. "Do not speak to me again," she hissed.

The smile on Harley's face instantly vanished, replaced instead by a face of shock and utter sadness. Ratchet was amazed to see droplets of water emerging from the inner corners of her eyes. She turned her teary optics towards the medic.

"Ratchet?" she questioned sadly.

Her sadness broke his spark in two. He reached out and touched her shoulder.

"Don't worry Harley we can fix this. It will take some time," he said assuredly.

She sighed as she glanced back at Devon who turned her back to the pair once again.

* * *

Once Sideswipe had finished loading the energon into the ship, he returned to the med bay as requested, along with Sunstreaker, who had come along to get the scrape across his chest plate repaired.

"Sides, I want you to take Harley down to the wash racks and get her cleaned up," Ratchet requested before turning to Sunstreaker. "Sunny, come and sit over here next to Devon."

Sunny moved over and sat on the table next to Devon who gazed silently downward at her hands. He glanced down at her briefly before looking over at Ratchet questioningly. Ratchet just shook his head as if to say "_don't ask_".

Ratchet had brought Harley online while Devon sat quietly sulking, refusing to look over at her sister. She had yet to say a word. He decided to send Harley down to the wash racks with Sideswipe, until Jazz and Ironhide came back from fulfilling their duties in getting the ship ready for the travel back to earth.

"Sure," Sideswipe said, walking over to Harley. He could see her tense up. "Easy Harley, I'll be gentle." He reached out and pulled her gently by the arm.

Harley looked down at her oil covered body. The stuff was like a light syrup. It dripped slowly down her exterior and down to the floor leaving slipper little pools of black liquid. She hadn't meant to knock the container over but she couldn't help the fact that she didn't know how to use her body. She glanced up at Sideswipe, who observed her with amusement.

"You think this is funny?" she snapped irritably at him.

"No, I just wander what you are thinking sometimes," he said coolly. "Now come on. We need to get you cleaned up."

Harley stood still and glanced from Sideswipe to Ratchet with hesitation.

"Go ahead," Ratchet encouraged her, "I need to get Sunstreaker repaired." He made a waving motion with his hand urging her to leave.

She glanced over at Sunstreaker noticing the large scrape and dent along his chest. She winced as she remembered she had been the one who had caused that.

She looked down slightly to avoid looking Sunstreaker directly in the optics. "I'm sorry about that Sunstreaker," she said softly.

"It's not your fault. So don't worry about it. Now get going," Sunstreaker responded firmly.

Sideswiped placed his hand on Harley's arm and pulled gently, forcing her to follow him out of the med bay and down the hall towards the wash racks.

It was a short distance to the wash racks and once at the door, Sideswipe entered in a code on the keypad to open it. Stepping aside, he motioned for Harley to enter first. She obeyed and walked in, only to stop short just inside with fear. Her senses where assaulted with the noise of several large mechs who were currently showering and cleaning up. All activity ceased upon her entrance and all optics turned to focus on her. Energon began to pulse through her lines at a furious pace as she felt herself grow warm from embarrassment. She was instantly reminded of a boy's locker room and suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

"In you go," Sides said, giving her a solid push from behind.

But she resisted and stood firm. She couldn't bring herself to go any further. She wasn't about to shower in front of a bunch of very 'male looking 'bots'.

"I want to talk to Ratchet," she whispered as she tried to back out of the room. "I'm not showering in front of all these robots."

"What are you worried about?" Sideswiped asked, "you are not a human anymore, your one of us now. You have nothing to hide. All you need to do is step in that wash rack over there and wash off." He pointed over to the wash rack while trying to push her towards it from behind.

"Stop it. I swear, if you don't take me to Ratchet, right now, I'm going to freak out. And you saw what I did to your brother," she warned as panic welled up inside her.

He moved in close behind her and brought his mouth down close to her audio receptor. "For one, I am a lot bigger than you. Two, I'm now aware of how little control you have over your limbs. So with that said, I'd say I'm prepared for any potential harm you may cause and will prevent it in any way necessary," he threatened.

This time Sideswipe shoved her till she moved causing her to stumble forwarded. But before she could react, Mirage who had been standing nearby, and who had overheard their exchange of words, spoke up.

"Stop!" Mirage demanded loudly. The mechs in the room still had not moved. Captivated by what was happening, they continued to watch with interest while at the same time standing on guard and prepared to step in if necessary.

"Sides…wait," Mirage said in a more directed tone. He could see the fear in Harley's optics. He raised his arm and called Ratchet over his com link. "Ratchet, this is mirage. We seem to have a situation here in the wash racks."

"What is the problem?" Is Harley all right?" Ratchet asked with concern.

"Yes, she is alright. However, she is asking to be taken back to you. Sideswipe wants to get her showered but she doesn't want to cooperate. She is uneasy here and she says she will …," he paused for a moment while remember the term Harley had used, "… freak out… if she isn't taken back to you."

After a brief moment of silence, Ratchet responded. "Well, it seems as though her human side is in control. She may look like an Autobot but she still thinks like a human. And human females don't typically shower in front of large groups."

Sideswipe shook his head with frustration, still feeling her reaction was ridiculous. "Well, now is a great time to help her get over her humans ways," Sideswipe insisted.

"No," Ratchet snapped, "She's had enough traumas for the day. Mirage, when will your group be done?" Ratchet asked.

"We are almost finished," he responded.

"Good. Sides, I want you to take her back outside and wait till the room is clear…" Ratchet started to say before being interrupted.

"But…" Sideswipe tried to protest but was cut off.

"No buts, just do as I say!" yelled Ratchet angrily.

"Looks like you get your way," Sideswipe said irritably.

Harley visibly relaxed and in her mind was thanking Mirage. She flashed her optics at the tall blue and white mech as she turned to leave. Mirage caught her relieved glance and was glad he had been there to help. It may not have been pretty otherwise.

Harley stepped outside the door and rested her back up against the wall as a rush of air left her intakes with relief.

Sideswipe rested his shoulder up against the wall next to her, crossing his arms over his chest plates while glaring at her with a mixture of irritation and wonder.

She felt his heavy gaze and was compelled to respond. "What are you looking at?" she snapped.

"You," he shot back. "Eventually you will have to get over the fact that you are no longer human. Just think…you are naked right now and I'm looking at you," he said smugly.

She hadn't really thought about it like that. She felt her systems warm with embarrassment.

"Stop it. Stop talking," she snapped.

"Suit your self…," Sideswipe paused and smiled. "..Naked 'bot..," he said quickly, chuckling to himself.

Sideswipe stared at Harley, trying to understand her irrational fears about her mech body when he noticed a sudden change in her expression. She appeared to become more nervous and her spark pulse began to beat faster. She stood up from the wall and straightened herself, looking past Sideswipe, she shifting nervously on her unsteady feet.

Sideswipe was jarred from his observation with a slap on his back from Jazz.

"Hey, Sides, how's it goin'?" Jazz asked cheerfully.

Just as he was about to respond, he suddenly realized why Harley was acting so strange. Her human side was definitely taking over. A slow grin spread across Sideswipes face as he gave Harley knowing glance.

"Everything is just fine…Jazz," Sideswipe said, locking his optics onto Harley's surprise expression. He could see she now was aware that he knew of her crush on Jazz.

"Harley, is Sides treat'in you good or do you need me to take over," he said as he put a hand on her shoulder.

Sideswipe's hold on her was instantly broken at the feeling of Jazz's touch. She felt sparks shoot through her system as her optics met the soft glow of the saboteur's blue visor. His charming smile melted her insides and it took every ounce of her strength to keep control of her new body. She was feeling all sorts of new things and she wasn't sure what to do.

"He's treating me fine," she eventually squeaked out.

"That's good to hear," he said gently. "Let me know if that ever changes." He gave her shoulder a gently squeeze before letting go and walking off.

She stood dazed with love struck optics.

"You know you might want to take some air in before you systems over heat. The showers aren't empty yet and I'd hate to have to drag you in there for a cold shower," he said with a chuckle.

"Whatever," she said, avoiding Sideswipes smug grin.

The door to the wash racks opened as several mechs filtered out. Mirage was the last to exit and gave Sideswipe the all clear.

"It's all yours. Be gentle with her, Sides," he warned.

"Hey, I'm not Sunny, of course I will," he said, offended.

They entered the now quiet room. Sideswipe guided her to one of the shower stalls. He could see she was still nervous but not as much as before. He conceded that Ratchet had made the right decision, best to ease her into the life of a mech one step at a time. He could see her shooting nervous glances at him.

"What's wrong now?" he questioned as he reached in to turn on the water.

Harley grabbed his arm, stopping him short of reaching the shower knob.

"It's….just….I'm not feeling comfortable showering while you watch," she said hesitantly.

He rolled his optics. "You can't be serious?" he said.

"Sides, please…can you just show me how this works and then turn around?" she pleaded.

He suddenly felt sorry for her. This would be a difficult transition. He reluctantly agreed. "Fine, here's how you turn it on and over there is the cleaning sheet and solution, kind of like your soap you…humans….use." He felt odd referring to a mech as a human, but he could see his patience relaxed her.

After he turned his back, Harley turned on the shower and started to clean the oil off her body. She vigorously scrubbed her exterior free of the dirt and oil. The warm water relaxed her systems. She was surprised at how the touches across her body felt the same as it had in her human body. She had assumed that mechs weren't as sensitive as humans because of their hard exteriors. Instead, her sense appeared to be more sensitive than before. Harley reached over and turned the water off.

Sideswipe instantly turned around and handed her a dry polishing clothes from his subspace. Harley jumped at his quickness.

"What…you couldn't wait till I was finished?" she said, grabbing the towel from him and instinctively covering the front of her body with it. "Turn around… I'm not going to rub myself dry while you watch."

"Oh come on," he sighed incredulously. But her piercing glare said she meant what she said.

Once again Sideswiped turned around, giving her more privacy. Harley began to dry the droplets off her body, relishing in how good it felt.

"Don't have to much fun back there," Sideswiped added with a mischievous chuckle.

"Does it matter…After all I'm no longer human," she responded with a snort.

"Ok, you got me on that one. I guess there's a lot more you still need to learn," he said with slight defeat. '_She has spunk_,' he thought to himself.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please review.


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